CH 68

༺ The Underground Giant (2) ༻

Before we knew it, we arrived at a vast square formed from the giant’s bones. This was the place to form your party and gain EXP before confronting Elphelt the Evanescent. 

Lisetta furrowed her brows at the sight before her. 

Energetic elephants, adorned in vibrant shades of pink or red, danced and swayed joyfully. These were demons, their ears torn and their faces twisted into eerie grins, humming tunes through their trunks.

A drumming elephant, slender and rhythmic, pounded drums made of flesh with their elongated noses and created beats.

A guitarist elephant played magical bone-made instruments with quick, tapping rhythms.

A singer elephant performed in an unknown language, melodically weaving strange songs.

A chorus of elephants, arranged in a line, harmonized and sang together.

It was full of dissonance.

The elephant demons were utterly delighted by their peculiar music that they were dancing in circles when…

[Buoooo───?]

…The elephant demons, the Fall, noticed our approach and halted their dance. Their big, round, black eyes turned toward us in unison.

♪…

The music ceased, leaving nothing but silence.

[Dance, buooh?]

The leading elephant stepped forward and made a proposition to me.

After a brief pause, the rest of the elephants erupted with laughter, their torn mouths splitting wide open.

[Bukyakyakyakyakyakyak!! Bukyakyakyakak─────!!]

[Buoooh────! Baaaastarddd, Bakyayayayakak──!]

[Bukyakyakyakya──! Buhak! Bukyakyakyakyakyakyakya────!!]

[Boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo-boo────!!!]

The elephants held their bellies while they rolled on the floor, laughing hysterically. With their thick feet, they merrily applauded, revealing toothless, black mouths as they chuckled and laughed.

  Perhaps I can make use of Eden here.

“Eden, put Ian down.”

I gave a command to Eden, and he responded with a “Kyuu” and gently placed Ian, whom he had been carrying, on the ground.

This was the Music Square. In ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱, it was safe to run wild in this place. The bones forming the ground softened the impacts transmitted to the giant’s body.

[…Kyuu?!]

As soon as [Hunter] was activated, dense rock mana flowed towards Eden.

Eden was stunned.

His body began to grow larger and larger. One after another, flat boulders were created from thin air and layered themselves on his body.

His piercing eyes glowed as he transformed into a solid 4-meter-tall golem. It was his transformation into his humanoid form.

[Eden]

Lv: (130)

“Take them down.”

[Kyuuuaaahh───!]

With a roar, Eden leaped forward in a straight line at incredible speed, creating a gust of wind in his wake. His massive rock fist slammed into one of the Fall.

Pow──!

An explosion-like sound resonated as one of the elephant’s body violently traversed the air. It only came to a halt when it collided with an enormous bone fragment.

It fell to the ground, lifeless.

The startled Fall hastily deployed their blood magic circle, unleashing a barrage of blood-red magic spells.

However, it couldn’t even leave a scratch on Eden’s rock-hard body.

[Kyuuoooooh───!]

Eden soared upwards, and a large number of yellowish rocks appeared out of thin air, clinging to his fists as if they were magnets.

He smashed the ground with his colossal fists.

Kwaaaaaaaah───!!!

The bones that made up the ground shattered, and the Fall were all crushed without exception.

It was an extermination – a display of overwhelming power.

‘Hmmm.’

  My heart swelled with awe as I realized it was the little golem Eden I knew.

“Argh… Kaya… I must save Kaya…”

Just then, Ian, who had been lying on the ground, regained consciousness. He groaned and held his head as he slowly raised his upper body.

I quickly lifted the camouflage disguise over my shoulders to cover my head.

Whooooosh- Pow─!

“Ugh!”

At that moment, a blunt piece of bone flew in a parabolic arc and struck Ian directly in the head. It was due to Eden’s attack that the ground shattered into pieces.

Ian let out a pained scream, then collapsed backward onto his back, unconscious once again. Fresh blood trickled from where the bone fragment had struck.

It was a ridiculous situation… At least I didn’t need to cover my head with the disguise now.

[Bugyak….]

The Fall hoard were crushed beyond recognition, letting out a distinctive groan as they turned to ashen dust and vanished.

Silence settled in.

Eden landed on the ground with a thud. The rocks that had covered his body instantly dissipated into a light brown powder. His body shrank to 2 meters, the size it was before the battle.

[Kyuu, Kyuu─!]

[Eden]

Psychology: [Surprised by the fact that he was momentarily stronger.]

So, level 130 was his limit for now.

  If he continues to level up and gradually becomes stronger, one day he’ll be as good as a high-level familiar.

[Level Up!! Your level has increased to 69!]

[You have gained 2 stat points!]

  I leveled up. Yesss.

“Come on, Eden. Pick up Ian again.”

[Kyuu!]

I called out again, and Eden rushed over and lifted Ian back into a princess carry, followed by Lisetta and me.

“…”

  Come to think of it, when did Lisetta become so quiet?

[Lisetta Lionheart]

Psychology: [Feels inferior, doubtful, and fearful in your presence.]

…Well, the reason was obvious. I decided to ignore her for now.

As we passed through the wide doorway-like passage, an overly spacious dome-shaped room emerged and overwhelmed us.

We had reached the bulging abdomen of the Underground Giant.

“Where are we…!?”

A startled Lisetta gasped in shock, but I quickly clamped my hand over her mouth.

“Quiet.”

“…”

She nodded, and I lowered my hand. We continued to move forward.

The mana, scattering bright crimson light, served as illumination.

The walls bubbled with blood, and the malformed ceiling emitted a crimson glow around the ribs’ gloomy hue.

Below, darkness took hold beyond the cliff.

A line of flesh-like legs led straight to the center of the room. At the end, the torso of a giant red elephant, its head resembling a brain, stood tall.

It was the main body of Elphelt the Evanescent.

‘What’s going on?’

For some reason, the creature hung limply, its head bowed and lifeless. Just like a corpse. Shouldn’t it have been doing a bizarre dance and greeting us with vigor by now?

…And then, it happened.

Crack─

In the middle of the giant elephant’s head, someone raised their upper body, revealing their figure.

Her long, flowing hair and white school shirt were drenched in the elephant’s blood, staining them a deep scarlet. Crimson blood flowed down her fair skin. After a moment of hesitation, she swallowed and wiped the blood from her lips.

Her usual emerald eyes turned into a chilling, lifeless red, and gazed upon us. They were vacant eyes devoid of the faintest glimmer of life. 

Then, as soon as she caught sight of us, her cheeks flushed, a mysterious smile creeping onto her lips.

“Isn’t that… the second seat…?”

Lisetta’s voice was filled with alarm.

Above the head of the gigantic elephant demon, a light green-haired female student peered down upon us. She was Kaya Astrean, the boss who had awakened as both a blood wizard and a demon.

[Kaya the Ravenous]

Lv: (160)

Race: (Demon)

Elements: Wind, Ice, Plant, Blood

Danger: Extreme

Psychology: [Hopes you can stop her insatiable desire for slaughter.]

‘Why is Kaya showing up already…?’

Even more surprising was that she was ten levels higher than the original scenario.

For a brief moment, I was taken aback, but I quickly regained composure and quickly came to a decision.

In ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱, 「Act 4, Chapter 3, The Underground Giant」, Kaya the Ravenous was a hidden boss who appeared right after the player defeated Elphelt.

She emerged from within a whirlpool of crimson blood, formed by piercing through a membrane of crimson mana as an incomplete blood wizard awakening.

Now, Elphelt had forsaken its own elephant body and all of its functions, including intelligence, and had become a parasite with Kaya as its host. All that remained were instincts akin to bloodlust.

However, the current scenario’s Kaya seemed to have successfully awakened early. That was why Elphelt must have transformed into a parasite and already attacheditself onto Kaya.

Though not visible here, there used to be a red earring-like object dangling from Kaya’s right earlobe. It was Elphelt who had transferred itself to her.

Kaya would be unable to suppress her murderous intentions towards humans in her presence. She had no choice but to submit to Elphelt’s will.

  I’m sure that her current smile was born from Elphelt’s delight at finally being able to devour humans.

‘She’s still a long ways away from becoming a full-fledged demon…’

If I were to be defeated by Kaya the Ravenous, I would face the bad ending「Gluttony 」. According to that scenario, it would take Kaya half a day to transform into a full-fledged demon. There was still time to reverse the situation.

Kaya was most likely ten levels higher than in the original scenario because she had awakened as a complete blood wizard. 

By the way, using blood mana had its own side effects. Although harmless to the body, Kaya would have to live with those side effects once this part was over. In  ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱, these side effects served as a part of Kaya’s charm.

  By the way, why did Kaya awaken as a blood mage so quickly?

‘…Perhaps its the fact that she resonated with plant mana earlier than expected.’

In ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱, Elphelt was aware that plant mana harmonized well with blood mana. That was why he had tried to control Kaya.

Kaya couldn’t use plant magic at the time, so her awakening as a blood wizard was incomplete. In contrast, the current Kaya was fully attuned to plant mana and could even use plant magic.

There was no doubt that the plant mana had instantly fused with the blood mana. It was something I hadn’t anticipated.

However, that wouldn’t stop me from saving Kaya. After all, the fact that I was stronger remained unchanged.

If I inflicted a fatal blow on Kaya, Elphelt would protect her for his own survival and attempt to flee while in a weakened state. In that moment of weakness, I would seize the opportunity to kill him. Kaya would then revert back to her human form.

[…]

「Wind Generation (Wind Element, ★1)」 + 「Flower of Evil (Blood Element, ★6)」

= 「Carnage (Wind + Blood)」

Whoosh─!

A gust of reddish-green wind blew Kaya the Ravenous away from Elphelt’s grasp. The fierce wind swept the blood off her body like an air compressor, but it couldn’t clean the already crimson-drenched uniform.  

Through the gale that dominated the space, Kaya gazed down upon me.

I could see the crimson floral tattoo that ran down from her right cheek to her neck. It was the [Flower of Evil] that appeared whenever she activated her blood mana.

Her lips twisted into an enigmatic expression—seemingly smiling and crying at the same time—making it impossible to discern her emotions.

However, the icy red glint in her eyes were directed squarely at me.

「Ice Barrier (Ice Element, ★6)」

I cast an [Ice Barrier] on Lisetta, Ian, and Eden to neutralize my ice magic.

“Are you going to fight?”

I nodded at Lisetta’s question.

[The demon has been recognized as an enemy.]

[The unique trait [Hunter] is activated!]

[The level and stats are temporarily greatly enhanced!]

[The skill tree temporarily becomes +10!]

As I steeled myself to confront Kaya the Ravenous, my unique trait [Hunter] activated.

Once again, I channeled rock mana to Eden and issued a command.

“Eden, watch over Lisetta and Ian.”

[Kyuu!]

Eden nodded, as if to assure me he would safeguard them. He would shield them from the aftermath of the fight between me and Kaya.

Kaya the Ravenous constantly enveloped herself with an abundance of mana, enabling her to soar through the air like a breeze. I recalled the inconvenience Ian faced at his inability to fly in ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱ as he had to spend a large amount of mana to keep wind around him at all times. 

I, on the other hand, was capable of aerial combat.

Besides, if I stayed with Lisetta and Ian on this narrow bridge, we would all become her targets.

I bent both knees and leaped toward the ceiling like a spring.

Whoosh─!

Breaking through the reddish-green wind, I reached a height that even skyscrapers could barely reach.

“Are you even human?!”

Lisetta exclaimed, but I simply ignored her.

“Come forth, Hilde.”

I held my left arm out in front of me and activated my 8-star familiar summoning circle.

A pale blue summoning circle appeared on my left wrist. In response, condensed white jade mana gathered in the air, transforming into the colossal form of a white dragon.

───────── [Kaaaaaah────!]

[Frost Dragon Hilde]

Lv: 180

Race: Magic Beast

Elements: Ice

Danger: X

Psychology: [Delighted to fight alongside you.]

The 8-star magic beast, Frost Dragon Hilde roared.

I jumped onto the back of that white dragon.