Chapter 17
My vision is red.
"Ugh... What is this? It's quite dizzying."
Through the unfocused vision, something keeps coming in.
Perhaps because I put a newly acquired part of Mephisto into my eye, I felt reborn.
-Wooooong....!!
An incomparably powerful Mana, unlike anything before, was flowing through my body.
-Crunch..!!
Just by lightly moving my hand, the nearby cave rocks weren't breaking, but crumpling.
‘The power... seems quite useful.’
"Whew, it seems there aren't many side effects on the body... Keuk?!"
I didn't think there would be no side effects at all.
‘In the first place, I shoved a part of the Final Boss's body directly into my eye. Expecting to be fine would make me crazy.’
"Cough, cough!"
As I unconsciously brought my hand to my mouth, it came away holding a handful of dark red blood.
"Cough, what is this sudden... Cough...!"
Compared to the pain of inserting the eye just now and the suffering I'd endured so far, this pain felt infinitely light, almost like a tickle.
If there was one problem, it was that I thought it would just hurt, but it came with the added effect of my vision shaking and gradually darkening?
"Ugh... These side effects are complete trash..."
-Thud!
...
...
After some time had passed, I came to my senses and found myself collapsed on the floor.
"Ugh... That was not a good experience."
Seeing the dark red blood near my mouth, it seemed I must have vomited blood violently and fainted during the seizure.
If an ordinary person had suffered these side effects directly, it would have been instant death, but perhaps thanks to
After wiping off some of the blood stuck around my mouth with a wet wipe I had in my pocket, I quickly began to assess the situation.
"Status Window."
‘Just try being a useless ability. I’ll just take it out immediately and leave.’
No matter how high the probability that this Magic Eye shows cheat-level performance, if I can't deal with Shena outside right now, it's utterly useless.
‘I don't need something with a high potential ceiling. What I need is a skill I can use right now...’
As if understanding my feelings, the information visible in the status window was quite useful.
‘My alignment changed to Chaotic. And... my Mana... it's temporary, but it went up to S+?!’
There are only a few characters with S+ Mana, including Eve Meitner, who should be struggling against Shena right about now.
Stats that only late-game bosses or outstanding magic-type S-Rank Heroes could possess.
Just by implanting the remains of Mephisto, my Mana stat, which was around A+, rose this much?
‘How much power was in it?
At least with this output... it's comparable to Yun Sea during the boss fight phase.
Anyway, is there no Magic Eye related skill?’
Ah, now that I think about it, the [Eye of Suggestion] was also in the inventory.
"In, Inventory."
‘Please be something good...’
[Eye of Suggestion](Inactive)
[Part of ???](Active)
‘Ah, what a relief.’
It wasn't a skill, it just appeared in the inventory as a piece of equipment.
‘Anyway, Part of ????’
[Part of ???] (Active)
[Increases Mana.]
[Censored]
[Censored]
[Censored]
[Censored]
[Censored]
...
[Censored]
[Censored]
[Censored]
[Censored]
[When the %# thing from the $$ of the un#$ #% and the other#% heav$% %#, the %& shall arrive]
[You can change all the ###@ you im@$#& into rea$%#<><<<.]
‘Why is so much of it censored?’
For now, the only thing I can clearly read is the short phrase that Mana increases...
‘It feels like it’s been a really long time since I saw an item with such a strangely simple description...’
In the case of items/skills with simple descriptions, they could be divided into two types.
First, skills/items that are trash because there's really nothing to explain, like 'It's an old sword' or 'Can create and launch a fist made of smoke'...
Second, cheat-level skills/items that are so powerful they can be understood just by explaining the concept, like 'If you cut, it will be severed' or... 'You do not die.'
"...In that case. It seems like the second type..."
For now, the situation is quite good.
There's a mountain of things to investigate about that Magic Eye... but for now, the fact that it raised my A+ Mana stat to S+ is a good enough effect on its own.
‘With this level of Mana... I can apply the effect of the [Eye of Suggestion] even to Shena.’
I can also ignore her Brainwashing magic.
-Rumble....!!
And, just as expected, the space began to collapse with a loud noise.
‘To think I’d live to directly implant a piece of the Final Boss.’
This is the first time I've taken this route, but first, I need to get outside quickly.
‘In this situation where I don’t know how long I was unconscious, checking Eve’s condition is the top priority.’
She is a super important character who needs to be active until the latter half of the story.
First, I just hope she's alive...
With that thought, I threw myself towards the Gate from inside the collapsing Dungeon, rolling noisily across the floor.
-Crash!
‘Ugh, was I caught?!’
Quickly turning my head to survey the situation, a thunderbolt flashed past me in an instant.
Fortunately, seeing that I wasn't attacked immediately, it seemed neither of them had the leisure to pay attention to me.
‘Looks like she’s still okay...’
Thankfully, I felt Eve's lightning magic and quickly turned my head towards where the bolt came from, but...
-Puk!
"Keoheuk...!"
‘.......!’
Unfortunately, as if that thunderbolt was her last struggle, right after it flew off, Eve's entire body was pierced by black tentacles.
"Wow, that was really dangerous. If this space had been just a bit wider, I would have been roasted in two seconds. You couldn't go all out because of the kid who went into that Gate, right?"
"Kkeueuk....."
-Puk!
.......!!!
Eve is suffering so much she can't even scream.
"Since you're going to die soon anyway... I'll tell you. That kid is probably dead. What's inside there is part of our Demon Lord's remains."
"Re...mains?"
As Eve struggled to speak, Shena chuckled mockingly and muttered.
"There's no way a human could withstand such powerful demonic energy! They probably died in agony, corroded by the demonic energy the moment they went inside. That little Young Miss probably died instantly without even time to suffer~"
Saying that, Shena used her tentacles to pull Eve closer, then sank her teeth into Eve's neck and began to suck her blood.
-Kwaduk!
"Kkeueuk....!!"
"Your blood is delicious... It's a bit of a waste to kill you. Once I've sucked all your blood, I'll just toss you into a nearby goblin or orc nest, so don't worry too much. Or maybe you want to be my blood pack?"
‘...Damn it, can I do this?’
‘Looking only at the Stats on the status window, I might be able to land a decisive blow to subdue her... but the problem is, if Shena dodges that attack, it's game over immediately. With Eve so close like that, she could get caught up in my attack.’
-Clank
Then, I heard the sound of something catching on my ankle.
"Aah... I thought I was going crazy with irritation because of that annoying First Seat guy. But I got to drink such delicious blood and found the Demon Lord's remains. My luck is too good today?!"
Fortunately, Shena was so engrossed in admiringly drinking Eve's blood that she hadn't noticed the Gate disappearing behind her and was focused on sucking blood.
With the harpoon gun now in my hand, although it might cause some pain, I can safely separate Eve from Shena.
‘........Right, I just need to think of this as a newly released boss Dungeon.’
Using Psychokinesis, I create a translucent wall and look at my reflection.
‘This isn't reality. It's just an insignificant Dungeon monster I used to enjoy fighting in a game, like always, by entering a full-dive machine.’
Good, my trembling hands seem to be calming down now.
No, it's not just calming down.
My body is moving better than usual, and I'm starting to feel like I can do anything right now.
-Bang!
"...What?!"
Seeing Eve instantly detach from Shena with a harpoon embedded in her waist, Shena is bewildered.
‘Alright, the time I can use the part of Mephisto... let's estimate it at about 20 seconds. Seeing how long it lasted when I collapsed then, that seems possible.’
"[Eye of Suggestion], activate!"
-Paaaaa!!
Using Psychokinesis, I lifted the stone dust from the floor to create something like a smoke bomb effect, then added my Psychokinesis to the harpoon's retrieval function and threw Eve towards the Dungeon entrance.
It was an incredibly difficult task that would have been impossible with my usual Psychokinesis, but with overwhelming Mana, all that can be ignored.
"Wh-What? Suddenly!?"
‘It’s been so long since I tasted the blood of a top-tier Hero, do you think I’ll give up easily?’ she must be thinking.
"Don't move, Shena."
".............!!!! You?!"
At my single command, Shena stood frozen on the spot, unable to move, as if she had heard a dragon's command.
‘Gotcha.’
I brought my hands together and imagined the Yun Sea from the game.
If this were me in reality, I wouldn't be able to do it... but this world is inside a game, just an ordinary Dungeon, right?
Let's just think of it as Yun Sea becoming playable.
‘Now, then...’
The roles are reversed, you damn bitch.