Chapter 96
I froze, still in the motion of reaching for the doorknob.
A chill ran down my spine. It wasn’t just a premonition—I could actually feel something in the room.
[Asila.]
The butterflies began to multiply, their wings trailing red light.
“Something’s here, isn’t it?”
[Yeah.]
[Not sure exactly what it is, but it’s here.]
[We should check it out, right?]
I nodded slowly, and the butterflies spread out, settling across the room.
I slowly turned my body, which had been drifting toward the door, and scanned the room with my eyes.
Perhaps I had been staring blankly at my own back, because I sensed the gaze of the royals and the duke fixed on me. But that discomfort was nothing compared to the strange, foreign energy lurking somewhere in the room.
Normally, I wouldn’t have been this sensitive to detecting such energy, nearly at the level of spirits, but this seemed to be a result of inheriting the power of the elves.
[That person has something too.]
As I heightened my senses, feeling everything in the room one by one, the whispers of the spirits reached me.
I instinctively opened my eyes.
Some of the butterflies were fluttering around the duke.
Though the spirits themselves weren’t visible, perhaps sensing the flow of mana, a trace of confusion appeared in the duke’s eyes.
Focusing on him for a moment, I could indeed feel what the spirits were referring to.
It was like… a thin veil. Some unpleasant energy surrounded him—or more precisely, around his eyes. But what the spirits and I sensed now was not that.
The sense of unease the man exuded was so strong that I could barely feel it. Compared to the energy lurking somewhere in this room, it was trivial.
That level of energy would naturally dissipate if he stayed in a place rich with natural mana.
The spirits soon seemed to notice him as well, and their attention toward the duke completely faded.
The energy was growing stronger. It wasn’t because I was getting closer—it physically seemed to increase.
Yet, I still couldn’t tell where it was emanating from.
I bit my lip.
I didn’t particularly care about the safety of the four people in the room.
What mattered was that the energy was swelling, and if it caused harm, it wouldn’t stop within this room. That ominous thought crossed my mind.
I cleared unnecessary things from my senses, one by one, and slowly closed my eyes.
I spread my mana thinly once more.
This time, unlike before, something got caught in the mana web.
“…The wardrobe.”
[The wardrobe, damn it!]
[Why didn’t we notice this?]
[Asila, it’s dangerous. Humans call it a monster.]
[It’s growing.]
The spirits called it a monster before I did.
“Step back!!”
I instinctively shouted as soon as I sensed the energy’s true nature.
The large wardrobe, tightly shut in the corner, trembled.
My instincts and intuition were screaming.
It was a monster. Something was tearing through it inside.
The royals, seeing the shaking wardrobe, turned pale and jumped back.
Wood splinters flew everywhere as the monster burst out.
“Kueeeeeeeek!!”
The duke, standing closest behind the sofa and nearest to the wardrobe, drew the sword at his waist too late.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaa!!”
I bit my lip.
It wasn’t just this room—the sounds of simultaneous crashes and screams came from beyond, from other rooms.
The massive creature stomped, tearing solid furniture like paper.
The ceiling lights all fell.
“Kyaaa!! Please, help me!”
Judging by its size, it was at least a B-grade monster. If it had abilities, it could instantly reach A or even S rank.
Luckily, most spirit tamers would recognize it, so I pulled the duke back to safety as he hastily drew his sword.
The monster’s furious thrashing had been temporarily halted by the hastily made mana net, but it would only be a matter of time before it broke free.
“What the—!”
“What can you possibly do? Have you ever faced a monster like that? Step back and take these people away!”
The duke hesitated at my fierce tone. But ignoring his daft words, I shoved him backward.
A war hero or not, the only thing he’d fought in battle was humans. Thinking he could properly fight a monster just because he was revered on a battlefield was utterly wrong.
Even if he had joined a monster-hunting team, they’d only ever hunt leftover C-rank monsters, and it would take the whole knight order to bring down one.
I could not fathom that I had once briefly loved this man.
If my past self were here, I would have ripped him away by the hair to stop him.
The duke seemed to regain some sense of situation awareness, retreating with the royals. I immediately set up a barrier.
Unlike the finely woven barriers used by the tower lord and others, I didn’t know how to make one that precise.
The barrier I set up was simply a wide spread of the usual defensive shield using mana. But if it could stop even a single attack from the monster, it would be more than enough.
Fighting a monster in such a confined space had its limitations.
I could already see cracks forming in the floor from the monster’s raw strength as it struggled in the mana net.
The high ceiling was a small mercy.
“Nyx!”
The spirits, having multiplied instantly, surged toward the monster at my call.
At the same time, the mana net tore, freeing the monster.
“Kueeeeeek!!”
We had to finish it quickly. Butterflies, by nature, are somewhat slow when subduing a raging monster. Their small size limits their effectiveness.
If we waited passively for the spirits to finish it, it would be too late.
This was a completely different situation than missions without time constraints.
If the monster broke out of the room and encountered others in the building, that would be far worse than taking damage here.
I ignored the high-pitched screams from behind, stretching my arms toward the monster.
The golden mana within me surged, forming a blade.
I slashed diagonally.
As the monster approached menacingly, having shifted its form and whistling through the air, I severed its tendrils while the spirits consumed the remains.
No matter how many times a monster regenerates instantly, Nyx’s annihilation prevented it from recovering quickly.
I had learned this after long missions with the spirits.
“Blast.”
Bang! Bang, bang!!
The golden mana I sent out detonated simultaneously like bombs across the monster’s body.
It was my first time using rune magic in combat.
“Kueeeeeek!! Kueeeeeek!!”
Blood flooded the floor.
As the monster writhed in pain, its core became visible through the scattered flesh.
“Nyx, core!”
A short command, yet the butterflies immediately swarmed the purple core before the monster could regenerate.
When the butterflies flew away again, there was not a trace of purple left.
Obliteration.
The enormous creature collapsed, its body gradually turning to ash.
The emperor and empress, trembling behind the sword-wielding crown prince and duke, fell to the floor in disgrace.
I caught my breath, slowly approaching the spot where the wardrobe had stood.
Where did it come from?
Usually, monsters emerge through cracks in our natural world.
A crack.
But there was no trace of one here. If there had been a crack, the monster I’d just dealt with wouldn’t have been alone. So there wasn’t one.
The fact was, it was absolutely unnatural.
This building was for research, where all spirit tamers from the tower gathered. Tower lords had checked its safety countless times, and thick barriers proved it secure.
I bit my lip.
It was fortunate that all spirit tamers were inside, and aside from a few resting in rooms, everyone was watching the presentation together.
If a monster appeared suddenly in a room with no spirit tamers or fighters… it would be horrific.
“…What is this?”
I sifted through the wardrobe’s debris and found a small amethyst-like stone. I reached for it.
Just as I touched it,
the amethyst twitched, and black vine-like growths sprouted from it.
[It’s growing.]
The spirits’ earlier words—“it’s growing, not emerging”—flashed in my mind.
I immediately drove my sword into the amethyst. Yet the growing vines seemed unaffected.
“Kueeeeeek!!”
The vines twisted together, forming a smaller but unmistakable monster.
From that tiny amethyst… how?
I stared blankly at the monster charging at me.
Bang!!
A thunderous crash shook the ceiling, collapsing it, and a familiar shadow caught the monster as it fell.
