Chapter 111: After the Bell Rang (2)
That evening, inside Duel—Mallet.
In the Master of the Magic Tower’s chamber, the three of us were having a private eting.
“One of the Apostles helped you? Why?”
“Can’t say for sure if they helped or Torquemada.”
I brushed a hand over my lips and asked,
“Have you heard from Arta since then?”
“…No. Not even a formal letter saying they received my ssage.”
“Hm…”
If I were to force a shortlist of suspects, the Arta Family could be one.
But naturally, the likelihood of them being involved in this matter was extrely low.
Unless Gustav was lying, they couldn’t have gathered information through the Magic Tower.
They probably only tracked official movents, both before and after the summit.
At the very least, they wouldn’t have known I was after the Reincarnation Stone.
They might’ve tried to recruit insiders to collapse Dellowell from within, but they wouldn’t have known that Torquemada was one of our pieces.
‘Or… perhaps Ain Kabbalah?’
If it were them, they would’ve known both my objective and destination, and detecting black magic from Torquemada wouldn’t have been difficult.
However, that still didn’t explain how they managed to recruit an Apostle of the Orthodox Faith.
If it wasn’t recruitnt but rather control—or brainwashing—then Karen would’ve suspected sothing far worse.
Either way, there wasn’t enough information to draw any conclusion yet.
I slowly closed my eyes and organized my thoughts.
The Ribenian Orthodox Faith.
It was indeed one of the pillars of the Empire.
But the Archbishop’s influence was absolute only in Arpe, Centre, and Flock.
The other six regional lords probably thought differently from the central will of the church, and their goals must have been their own.
In any case, the downfall of the Orthodox Faith was already destined.
Those with keen intuition might have already sensed it and were preparing to shift their allegiance.
Recent events must have heavily influenced their judgnt as well.
From the Imperial Summit to the Centre Agreent—both sides had lost face, far from their usual prestige.
Of course, that didn’t an they would side with forces like the Platinum Dawn or the resistance groups under them.
What they sought was regi change or reform, not the collapse of their privileges.
‘Well… I wouldn’t just sit back in that case, either.’
Anyway, I’d have to keep watching for now.
After firmly engraving the na Bover into my mory, I looked at the two before .
“How’s the preparation on this side coming along?”
riel answered on behalf of them.
“We’re focusing on reinforcing the core of Mallet—the automated defense system, at present.”
“What about the external interception turrets?”
“They’re inoperable.”
“Why? Short on resources?”
“Yes. We’ve poured all available resources into the internal defense system, but even that’s still sowhat lacking…”
“External support will be inevitable, then.”
Well, nothing to worry too much about.
“Make sure the turrets are all properly inspected. We’ll need every single one of them running at full capacity.”
“Understood.”
“All right, let’s leave this discussion here for now…”
I grinned, pointing my finger downward.
“The preparations on the other side should be about done by now, right?”
B3 Underground Floor, the Arena.
It was the sa place where I’d once fought that fierce battle against Clina White.
A massive crowd had gathered.
I glanced to the side and asked casually,
“How many in total?”
This ti, Gustav replied.
“Just under 250. Thirty-six agents in total, including riel. Should be enough, right?”
“It should be, but don’t let your guard down. Not for even a second.”
Incurable Sabnac.
Among S-rank beasts, it was rated as a mid-to-lower tier specin. To those familiar with its strategy, it wasn’t even considered A rank.
But destroying it completely—rather than rely driving it back—was an entirely different story.
‘That overwhelming regenerative ability is exactly why it got its S-rank classification in the first place.’
That’s why we had to seal every possible escape route.
Not a single gap could be left for it to slip through.
And one more thing—
When facing that monster, no physical injury must be allowed.
The mont it left an Incurable Curse through a wound, the victim would beco nothing more than its host.
Looking at the assembled personnel, I began the briefing in a loud voice.
“Layer the purification barriers thick—double, triple if you have to—and keep them up until the battle’s over. Sabnac’s specialty is slipping through openings. Understood?”
“Yes, sir!”
“Assault teams, don’t stop the bombardnt until I give the signal. End it with the Ignite Field. Got it?”
“Yes, sir!”
Their sharp, uniform response impressed . I tightened my grip on Lukezax with both hands.
At the center of the arena stood only —Eugene Carter—and the Reincarnation Stone.
“All right, let’s give this thing a proper lynching.”
With a grin, I slowly infused mana into the stone.
As soon as it absorbed a sufficient amount, the stone began to levitate gently into the air.
Once I designated the being to be reincarnated through its unique thod, it would fulfill its purpose and vanish.
At that mont, Clina placed her hand on her waist and asked,
― Shall we begin now?
‘Yeah.’
Normally, the process required a sample of the reincarnation target’s bone, blood, or hair. But all I had was the curse Sabnac had left behind.
To transmit this information to the stone, I needed Clina’s help.
― It’s a strange feeling, doing to you what I’d usually do when tornting a Master I dislike… but this will hurt a bit.
‘…Go ahead.’
At that instant,
A heart-tearing pain erupted, shooting up through my fingertips and the back of my neck.
“Gghk…!”
With practiced precision, Clina pierced through my Mana Heart, extracting mana directly from the area where the curse was embedded.
Sensing the information from the extracted mana, the Reincarnation Stone began flashing rapidly in a red-orange hue.
And before long—
The stone fell heavily to the ground, as if crushed under an imnse weight.
Kuuuuung!
At the sa ti, complex reactions began occurring throughout my body.
Even though I hadn’t released the limit, mana surged throughout as if it would burst out of my skin.
The single-edged sword, Lukezax, glead brightly, almost as if it were rejoicing.
Witnessing the entire process unfold before , I naturally arrived at one conclusion.
‘My power… is returning.’
And as the final proof—
The ssage window appearing at the upper right corner began flashing repeatedly.
― You have been freed from the indelible trait [Incurable Curse]!
※ The Mana Heart has been restored to its original state.
※ Derit “Withdrawal Symptoms” has been removed.
※ All abilities sealed due to Mana Heart damage have been released.
“…At last.”
It was the mont of true liberation.
Kugugugu…
Normally, I would’ve shouted in triumph or jumped for joy.
But unfortunately, I didn’t have the luxury to enjoy it now.
The dimr the Reincarnation Stone embedded in the ground beca, the clearer the figure of that thing grew.
From the smoke rising off the floor, I could feel a pure and concentrated malice.
The smoke slowly turned to dust.
The dust gathered and condensed—
And it didn’t take long before the powder shaped itself into sothing tangible.
‘…I’d love to crush him right now, but.’
The authority of the Reincarnation Stone was absolute.
Once a target had been designated, that target would be reincarnated—no matter what interference occurred from the outside.
If I tried to step in prematurely, the one who’d suffer losses would be .
To ti my offensive perfectly, I looked around and raised my left hand.
Just then, as we waited for his full resurrection, a twisted laugh reached our ears.
Kik.
Kik-kik.
Kihihihihit!
A tallic, grating laughter echoed throughout the vast arena.
‘…No matter how many tis I hear that laugh, I’ll never get used to it.’
All the mories of the suffering that damned curse had brought ca flooding back, and it took everything I had not to explode with anger.
Well, this would be the last ti anyway.
I smirked sharply, glaring at the creature whose body had already regenerated over ninety percent.
“Must suck to die again the mont you’re reborn. But what can I say? You’ve gotta pay the price.”
And to my surprise, the creature’s response was actually in agreent.
“Seems that way, doesn’t it?”
The crowd murmured in shock—perhaps astonished that a beast could speak like a human.
The commotion died quickly as the superiors restored order.
Sabnac alternated his gaze between his body and the stone buried beneath him, then snickered.
“How ever did you co up with this idea, my dear host? You acted like you’d never understand a thing for ages, and suddenly you’ve reinvented yourself completely. Does this even make sense?”
“I spent seven damn years figuring out how to make up for the humiliation you gave , you bastard.”
“Blaming now is misguided, heh. I’m a beast—our purpose is to tornt, tear apart, and ultimately annihilate humanity.”
“…Then all we can do is resist with everything we’ve got. Struggling to survive is the essence of mankind.”
Humanoid Beast Sabnac.
Alias: Incurable.
The creature shrugged and spread his oozing arms wide.
“Go on then, ravage as you please. Not that it’ll change a damn thing, kihihihit!”
Just as the Reincarnation Stone, having fulfilled its role, lost its light and went dark—
I dropped my raised hand and shouted.
“Now!”
At once,
A massive volley of magic bullets rained down around Sabnac.
Dudududu!
Even amid the thunderous blasts and smoke, his glistening cross-shaped pupils stood out vividly.
Activating every combat ability that had been restored, I locked my focus on him.
A thick layer of mana armor was already covering my entire body.
Kehahat!
Ignoring the bombardnt, he lunged straight at with his claws extended.
But those swift, sharp talons never touched my skin.
A thick barrier had appeared between us, completely blocking his assault.
Monts later, a barrage of spears rained from behind, forcing the beast to retreat.
He frantically glanced left and right, but the area was sealed off tight—there wasn’t even a sliver of escape.
“Kuh… kuhuh…”
And yet, even now, he couldn’t stop laughing. Typical.
Kwaaaang!
Under relentless explosions and unending attacks, the beast’s own shield was reaching its limit.
Sword in hand, I waited in silence for his desperate strike to co.
“……”
And before long—
It ca.
“Khahahahahat!”
Letting out his trademark deranged laugh, he burst through the smoke and lunged straight for my heart.
The mages who had anticipated this quickly cast barriers.
Kwa-jijik!
His right blade, spinning at an extre rotation, shattered all twenty layers of defense.
The S-rank Beast Sabnac’s ultimate move—Spiral Lance.
A technique that extends the blade’s energy through the entire arm and drives it forward with rotation.
Its magic resistance was so high that most barriers couldn’t withstand it.
However—
That also ant it was powerless against defenses that weren’t magical.
Creak—creeeak.
I raised my thickly deployed Barrier Blade before and locked eyes on his full form.
At the sa ti, a massive slash I had released split the creature cleanly in two.
Sabnac stepped back, withdrawing his hand, and asked,
“…If I’d used this technique to escape instead, would the result have been different?”
“Did you really think those mages were the only cards I had prepared?”
“Heh, I can’t beat you. Not then, not now.”
At those words, I took a deep breath and swung my sword rcilessly in four directions.
His body was sliced into more than eight fragnts. I watched the pieces for a mont, then glanced behind .
Above the severed flesh, more than fifty Ignite Field magic circles began to bloom.
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