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Hatch (4)
A red mist spread through the forest.
Jamie soared into the air, unleashing more defensive spells in a row.
The moment it touched the magi, any kind of defense magi rotted. There was a difference in power, but it was because of the corrosion contained in Leueta’s magi.
‘This is awful.’
The ability to release such things in large quantities was because of Master class.
The problem was Jamie had to survive this.
Jamie activated Leviathan. The darkness of Gluttony came out like a snake devouring the magi.
“Oh! That is such an interesting power!”
Leueta smiled happily as he saw the darkness come out like a snake and devour his magi.
He knew among the magicians in the human world, there were those who wielded darkness.
Was this kid a dark magician?
He was curious because he had never seen one before, but it was enjoyable as this was the first person he met after waking up here.
“Your soul seems quite unique too.”
He wet his lips and mumbled.
Unlike the small body, the soul inside seemed huge.
The size of the soul symbolized the time it took to grow, and the human body and soul were proportional.
He wasn’t sure how, but Leueta wasn’t the type to bother wasting time thinking about the reason.
“You will be tasty for a first meal!”
A massive amount of red magi began to swirl around him.
It was the first battle he was having in a long time.
Compared to his opponent he was strong, so it was perfect to relax in the battle.
The kid was a human he could play with and then eat him.
The black flame in Leueta’s eyes burned more fiercely.
“You will end up having to use everything you have. Little human.”
A magi sphere struck Jamie.
‘He is playing with me.’
Jamie thought as he absorbed the magi with Leviathan.
‘Should I say that I am glad? He has the ability to subdue me in an instant, but he doesn't, so I should look for an opportunity to turn around…’
Realistically, he didn’t think of ‘winning’.
If the opponent was a Baron from Devildom, he belongs to the lowest Master class.
If the Devildom was sensitive to weakness and considers them as worms, then they will be more sensitive to the details of power.
However, he didn’t have the power to turn the situation around.
A Master class.
There was a gap which Jamie couldn’t narrow by himself.
So from now on he had to focus solely on escaping.
‘By now, the Marquis and the Pyro church members must be here.’
A demon descended.
No one could have not felt it.
He wasn’t sure if their power could stop the demon, but at least they could keep the demon on its feet.
If a Sword Master of a Great Magician came after this demon, then even this Baron would die.
‘Beryl Onyx. If only he stayed here.’
He was reputed among the Sword Masters, and he surely could have killed the Baron from Devildom.
But how could he find someone who had left? For now, Jamie could only focus on surviving.
‘I am worried about Azad and Venna.’
Although they must have run away, Leueta’s magi continued to spread in order to corrode the entire forest.
“Hahaha! More! Try to avoid it a little more!”
The demon was mocking him.
“You are an annoying one.”
Jamie frowned, slicing through the magic with wind magic.
Even when it was sliced, the sliced parts formed two different spheres and approached Jamie.
Could he really survive here?
‘This is going to be a series of trials.’
Jamie was only collecting as much mana as he could and using less.
Azad was running away from the magi wave which was spreading behind him. Venna had lost consciousness, and he was carrying her.
“Damn it! Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!”
If he was swept away by the blood red wave behind him, even an undead would die.
To an undead who was dead, ‘death’ was impossible, but Azad was feeling scared.
“Master how is…”
He could sense that old Lich being counter summoned.
The only remaining undead was him.
It was because of the pink haired girl in his arms.
‘Could he deal with this?’
Azad always thought of his master as a wonderful person. Despite being young, he thought that it would be difficult to find an opponent among humans who could bring out the best of his master.
But the monster at the centre of this power felt different.
Wouldn’t it be difficult for his master to overcome that monster all alone?
‘The fact I am still here means master is alive…’
Master class, it was something Azad had never met or experienced before, but the ominous thoughts didn’t leave his mind.
“Hu…”
That was when Venna groaned and opened her eyes.
She struggled a couple times to fully open her heavy eyes.
“Are you alright?”
“… what happened?”
Venna tilted her head as she could feel her body being lifted by someone.
She recalled everything she could before she lost consciousness.
‘After I hit her…’
A special power within the hammer had awakened and caused an explosion.
However, Kana survived that and smashed Venna to the ground.
It was like she was trying to do more, but then she kicked Venna and Venna lost consciousness.
“Master told us to run away.”
It was only then that she saw who was holding her.
She didn’t know the name, but knew it as a special undead of Jamie's.
“Put, put me down.”
“Can you stand?”
Azad asked worriedly.
The waves of Magi were chasing after them, but it slowed down.
And with some time on their hands, he set Venna down. Even then, he couldn’t fully erase the anxious feeling inside him.
“Phew…”
Venna sighed and then tried to stand on her legs which were trembling.
Her body didn’t seem to have recovered from the shock. Even getting up was difficult.
And then she found the wave of magi coming towards her, swallowing trees.
“What is that?”
“Demon. Master is stopping it.”
“Demon?! In the end, it woke up…”
She shouldn’t have fainted.
Being weak was a sin. If she was a bit stronger, she wouldn’t have fainted, and then the demon wouldn’t have woken up.
However, the spilled water couldn’t be pulled back.
“Then Master is here…?”
“Yes.”
“I- I need to go there.”
“No. You will only get in the way.”
Azad calmly blocked her, Venna grabbed the hem of her skirt and tore it.
“Even if I die. I am going to get him some time and die. So move out of my way.”
“Master has ordered us to run away as far as possible.”
“With force I… kuak!”
As Venna tried to push Azad down with her power, only pain surged through her whole body.
As she was fully awake now, the pain which was little had now fully awakened too.
She grabbed her body and crouched down.
“You can’t do anything with such a body. I’ll hold you and run away, so stay silent.”
“Haaa! No, master…!”
“This is baseless stubbornness…”
The moment Azad approached her to lift her again, his figure froze and disappeared.
Venna’s eyes widened.
And then she remembered.
‘The undead disappears regardless of the master’s will when the master is in trouble.’
Kwaaang!
That moment, a bright red pillar soared up in the sky.
The magi which made her feel sick was spreading throughout the forest.
Venna clutched her chest.
Her eyes dilated and the world became wider in her eyes.
Then a boy caught her eyes.
The boy, half covered in blood, was falling to the ground.
“Mas… ter.”
The beating of his heart was faint.
And his face seemed white.
The moment she met him for the first time flashed before her eyes.
For the first time in her life, Jamie held out his hand to her.
In that hand, Venna saw hope and happiness which she never saw in her 10 years of schooling.
She didn’t want to lose that.
She had no idea what being a Valkyrie was, but she grew stronger and vowed to be helpful to the people who took her in.
But she failed many times.
A kid who was always willing to do something. Come to think of it, she has never been good to anything.
So she wanted to do well.
‘I want to do well!’
She didn’t want to disappoint herself.
That was all she wanted.
Did someone sympathize with her will?
[Interesting.]
A voice in her mind.
And then the ring on her hand shone.
[Young Valkyrie. A valkyrie who inherited that blood.]
Venna got up as she was surrounded by the white light.
[The time hasn’t come yet, but I will allow it for today.]
Her pink hair became even pinker. Behind her back, light particles joined to form wings.
Venna wasn’t shocked by the new change.
She didn’t have the time for it.
[Wherever you go, go wild.]
At those words, Venna spread open her wings.
The wings were bright yellow like a butterfly’s.
“Master!”
Venna moved forward this time.
To repay the favor.
Jamie smiled bitterly.
Struggling, he kept struggling.
He went through several crises and always tried to overcome them.
But this time, it seemed like he couldn’t.
‘I don’t get why so many obstacles keep coming my way.’
Could he survive this time?
Jamie wasn’t sure.
He was already bleeding too much.
Kik…
Black who was on his back continued to use healing magic, but Black too was having a tough time.
This was just a temporary help, it couldn’t heal the wounds.
“Have you given up?”
The disgusting voice came from below.
Jamie looked at it.
Leueta smiled, crossing his arms.
When he saw that face, the dizziness grew.
‘Am I feeling dizzy because of the lack of blood?’
He was starting to get confused.
Jamie raised his mana a little right before hitting the ground. There was no stamina left to use the flying magic, so he had no choice but to look for a soft landing.
Because magic puts strain on the body, and right now Jamie’s body couldn’t handle it.
‘If only a little bit more energy was left in the orb of life.’
If the situation was resolved through dialogue with Theberon, this wouldn’t have happened.
‘Should I send him to Theberon?’
He wanted that bear to do something.
‘No. the entire ruins will be ruined if that happens.’
Although Theberon is strong, there is a high possibility of the bear being defeated.
And there was no way that Leueta would just fall into the ruins.
‘Like Theberon, should I put a seal on magi?’
Impossible.
Leueta’s existence wasn’t something that the ruins could control.
The reason why the power of ruins worked was because Jamie and Venna were weaker than Theberon.
“I can hear your brain working all the way from here.”
Leueta was arrogant.
Demons were arrogant to the weak.
So he tried to be alert, but now the demon was being calm and playing with the weak and pissed off Jamie.
‘Is he wasting time with conversation?’
He didn’t know when the Marquis and Pyro church would come, but if the demon was acting this arrogant, hopefully Jamie too might earn some time.
Worried, Jamie opened his mouth.
“Where are you going… kuak!”
“I have no intention to talk though?”
A thorn protruded from Leueta’s body and pierced Jamie’s shoulder.
Kiik!
Startled Black flapped its wings and flew Jamie away.
The damn thorn!
Jamie struggled to pull out the thorn in his shoulder. He was already unable to heal and now another wound was added to it.
“I know that you are trying to buy some time and I am not stupid enough to play that game.”
“Ugh, you dirty bastard.”
“Did you know that even dark magicians are dirty?”
“But you are the one who lives in a gutter.”
“You know that kind of provocation isn’t good.”
“”Kuak!
This time it was the right thigh.
Whether it was fun to see others struggling in pain, Leueta smiled.
Jamie wanted to hit him at least once…
‘Uh?’
It was the time when Jamie was thinking of all sorts of things.
Something came in fast.
Leueta frowned and looked back.
“My magi?”
Something was breaking through the magi waves at a tremendous speed.
Shocked, Leueta turned and looked at it. Jamie frowned at the demon which just showed him its defenseless back.
It completely disregarded Jamie’s skills.
It could also be said that it was the freedom of the strong that they didn’t have to worry about showing their defenseless side in front of the kids.
Jamie clenched his teeth and stretched out his hand.
“Let’s hit you once…”
Thud!
It was then.
Leueta’s magi, which was high like a wall, exploded as if it was hit.
And like a waterfall, the rain of magi poured down where he was.
Kik!
Black which was clinging onto Jamie, tried to fly.
And quickly pulled away its master who might get caught in the magi rain.
Meanwhile Jamie couldn’t take his eyes of the magi wall.
Shocked, he mumbled.
“This power is…”
A bright light emanated from there.
And then, wings similar to butterflies were flapping leaving behind sparkles.
Jamie’s eyes widened.
A woman with butterfly wings, and a pink hammer in hand and fluttering red hair, a completely different red from the magi.
Jamie remembered the Valkyrie which he had seen a long time ago.
But not that Valkyrie.
This woman was someone he knew.
“Venna?!”
As Jamie shouted in a bewildered voice, Venna circled in the sky and rushed in.
“Master! Just trust me!”
She fluttered her red hair and held up her hammer.
“Kuahahah! What is this now?”
Leueta smiled.
He leapt towards Venna, emitting black flames in his eyes.
A hammer and a blade covered fist collided.
But it was none other than Venna who stood her ground!
“Get away!”
“No!”
Leueta’s body was firmly buried in the ground.
Venna slung the hammer over her shoulder and snorted.
And when she looked at Jamie, she smiled broadly.
“I am here!”
While proudly showing the letter V with her fingers.