<874 – Potential of the Adversary (9)>
The moment Darknodi regained her mana, the Man’s Representative recognized it at once.
She was indeed the avatar of Oknodie that he had been searching for, the one who must awaken the potential of the Demon King.
“Darknodi, I am…”
Here to help you.
Before he could finish that sentence, two different colored Mana Insights appeared in both of Darknodi’s eyes.
━━━
Awakening of the Supreme Mana Insight
Eye of Stagnation
━━━
There was no one to spend time with her.
Now she was utterly alone.
Therefore, even if the time of those she gazed upon could not be paused to share the same pace, she harbored no hesitation whatsoever.
Thus, Oknodie possessed a technique belonging to the highest category of taboo, Mana Arts, that she could not utilize despite having knowledge of it.
The Eye of Stagnation, now stained with a black hue that even light could not pass through, resided within her left eye.
━━━
Awakening of the Ultimate Mana Insight
Eye of Instant Death
━━━
If there was nothing left to cherish…
There was no reason to respect and cherish life.
There was no longer any reason to be cautious even about a single gaze due to the fear of her own mistakes.
If the relationship was one that could not be perceived by eyes, then what limitation exists in stealing the breath of that gaze’s target?
Thus, Oknodie wielded a technique belonging to the conclusive category of taboo, Mana Arts.
The Eye of Instant Death, now engulfed in a purple hue, took residence within her right eye.
[Left Eye: Eye of Stagnation]
[Right Eye: Eye of Instant Death]
The eyes with supreme piercing power that could penetrate all physical and magical defenses locked onto the Man’s Representative.
Before he recognized the danger level of that eye, the time around him, enveloped by numerous protective barriers, slowed considerably.
The overwhelming and immense power was too heavy to capture at a glance and resisted the effect of stagnation. Yet, the Eye of Darknodi, with almost no lingering attachments to this world, was formidable enough to shake off even that substantial divine might.
[Timing Slow]
[Chain Delay]
The skill of mastery weaving between protections left a gap for the Eye of Instant Death to penetrate through the loosening divine barriers.
Thud!
The Man’s Representative felt the pain of his heart stopping.
In that instant, he died once.
[Death Delay Protection]
[Effet: Delays death by divine power until the agreed wish is fulfilled. However, after the wish is granted, unavoidable death will come. All fruits and souls of the contractor will be harvested by the Man God.]
As the stopped heart began to throb again, the Man’s Representative realized that persuasion would be futile.
If he didn’t at least subjugate her, there would be no next step.
[Effect of Non-Action]
[Effet: Nullifies the opponent's ability manifestation according to the total quantity of abilities imposed by the user.]
The Man’s Representative’s counterattack was timely and swift, overwhelming Darknodi’s ambush with a force that can squash, due to his notable prowess.
Even before suffering the same damage repeatedly, his experience led him to find a perfect countermeasure.
However, if experience equated to skillfulness, then Darknodi’s accumulated experience could not be said to be lacking compared to the Man’s Representative’s time.
In a world of anomalies, there could be a child with the wisdom of a millennium, transcending mortality, born only a year prior.
It was no surprise that Darknodi was such a child.
[Mana Compression]
[Creation of the Spirit Engine]
[Processing Magic Core...]
Darknodi abandoned all conventional growth.
A happy ending could not be established.
Thus, a path of growth could open.
The Eye of Stagnation.
The Eye of Instant Death.
Just as those two eyes didn’t look back, neither did her path for acquiring mana.
Dark Mana consumed her vital organs, and before her body could perish, she trained and purified the Dark Mana to prevent it from attacking her and cultivated it into a Spirit Engine.
Thus, the mana would be maintained indefinitely as long as the Spirit Engine produced it, completing an unending source.
Against infinite might, if she stood firm with unquenchable power, then no matter how much the Man’s Representative tried to seal her strength with his blessings, mana would continue to appear.
Once there was mana, there were countless ways to manipulate it.
[Forced Summoning Magic Type A 1]
[Forced Summoning Magic Type A 2]
[Forced Summoning Magic Type A 3]
Even the same magic could be varied by changing its incantation to create different forms, thus consuming the opponent’s divine protection in bulk.
The granting of divine blessings disappears after the price is paid once, but magic is characterized by its versatility depending on the mage’s wisdom, making this a war of attrition.
[The Blessing of the Puppet is countered by Forced Summoning Magic Type A 12.]
[The Blessing of Forced Operation is countered by Forced Summoning Magic Type B 1.]
The Man’s Representative realized that things were going half as well as intended and half going completely wrong.
On the bright side, it was the method of opposition by Darknodi that was getting closer to the path of Demon King Oknodie.
Darknodi embraced the power of alien magic without holding back, eager to face the Man’s Representative.
But simultaneously, she was forcing the consumption of a large amount of blessings to kill the Man’s Representative at every moment.
It wouldn’t be long before the Man God shrunk down to a Lesser God and then to a mere vaccine.
“A different level of wisdom. It’s no exaggeration to say that she has already reached the level of a transcendent being with just wisdom alone!”
The Man’s Representative, who was transcendent enough to withstand the pressure from the Man God, began to feel his faith Meta’s power diminish rapidly before the unquenchable wisdom.
It was evident that the reason why the Magic Swordsman Oknodie could do the same lay in standing out more than any unique divine-class occupation.
“Simply blocking won’t be enough.”
The Man’s Representative honestly admitted that he had fallen into Darknodi’s trap and allowed the summoning to proceed to the end.
Instead of sealing the summoning magic itself, he intended to crush the summoned entity with the power of his blessing.
Of course, he was prepared for it not to be easy, so he desperately tried to halt the summoning.
“The Dark Princess, who reached the potential of Demon King during the Foundation Workshop Battle, summoned legions of the Outsider’s minions or apostles.”
If Darknodi were to pull off such summoning magic, the future of dying following the Director would be inescapable.
[Restriction Ritual]
[Mana Control Art]
Fortunately, Darknodi, who had not yet fully ascended to the hierarchy of true Demon King Oknodie, was unable to perform a powerful summoning strong enough to succeed in the all-in series.
Instead, she twisted the summoning magic’s safety clause by summoning the offspring of mythic monsters through special offerings; if the stipulated moment of summoning was violated, they would be instantly re-summoned.
-My ability to alter racial values is making the children of the contracting parties grow even stronger.
-This is not a factor that threatens safety; rather, it’s an act that grants grace, making re-summoning impossible.
-The summoned creature cannot return until the grace I bestow is over, even after the summoning time is up.
Sensing the danger in the place where the summoning occurred, the little one perceived that they could eat something if they summoned their offspring for just a moment, desperately joining in this greedy summoning.
The offspring of mythical monsters fell victim to this forcible summoning while their precious child was receiving grace.
[Forced Growth]
[Racial Value Modification]
The little one rapidly grew, forcibly attaining their matured form according to the genetic information etched onto their body.
Tag: age progression.
This was the product of revising a growth formula developed by a player with a keen interest in the cliché where characters age and grow rapidly into combat.
“MoOOOOOOOoooooOOOooOOo!!!”
Having suddenly grown strong at a young age when they should still be beside their parents, the Goo Kraken screamed in terror.
“KyaAAAAaaaAAK!!”
“ShaAAaaaAAA!!”
“TsutTsutTsutTsutTsut!!”
Behind the forcibly grown Kraken, victims caught in the summoning contract revealed their massive forms one after another.
Forcibly grown Phoenix.
Forcibly grown Leviathan.
Forcibly grown Medusa.
Another summoning portal opened behind them.
On the other side of the portal, the Howling Mandragora hesitated in confusion, wondering what was going on, when it finally realized that it was a means to escape the Academy it had long dreamt of.
But the time of hesitation was too long.
As the Howling Mandragora began to run out in excitement, the lurking Oknodie noticed the emerging presence of the Howling Mandragora from beyond the summoning portal.
‘If you go out, I’m going to get scolded by the original!’
Although it had already done enough to be scolded, having the little one grow too large would cross a serious line.
Making someone else’s child become an adult without permission was a cruel act that robbed those who wished to raise cute little animals of their time to be babies.
If they turned a troublesome four-year-old into a full-grown 24-year-old, it might cause a dilemma, but the Howling Mandragora was only two years old.
[Summoning Portal Closure Enforced]
The summoning portal was closed.
The Howling Mandragora slammed into the closed door and fell, crying out in pain and frustration, while Oknodie felt relief.
Of course, with this move, Darknodi’s summoning magic was interrupted, and she realized that it was an obstruction caused by someone aware of the Howling Mandragora’s location.
“The original’s minion is hiding, huh?”
While the Howling Mandragora was protected, it wouldn’t be able to protect the minion.
[Magic Core Processing Completed]
[Your racial value has been changed to Demonic Clan.]
[Physical status is too high.]
[Advances to Mid-level Demonic Clan.]
[Dark Mana volume is too high.]
[Advances to High-level Demonic Clan.]
[Purity of Dark Mana is too high.]
[Advances to Superior Demonic Clan.]
[The grade of the Spirit Engine and Magic Core is too high.]
[Advances to Legion Commander-level Demonic Clan.]
[The position of the Demon King's Four Kings is vacant.]
[Proves strength surpassing grade, automatically advances to the Demon King's Four Kings by the management system.]
In an instant, Darknodi finished an unprecedented quintuple evolution, not merely a bizarre transformation.
The walking disaster, now enveloped in mana equal to or surpassing that of the original, focused precisely on where Oknodie was hiding, and a cold sweat rolled down his forehead.
A child hides behind a reliable adult whom they can trust in times of crisis.
The only adult Oknodie could rely on was Professor Mahabharata.
Having been engrossed in the destruction of the unholy taboo city, wondering what was happening while watching the clash between the Man’s Representative and Darknodi, the gaze of Professor Mahabharata met that of Darknodi.
[Left Eye: Eye of Stagnation]
[Right Eye: Eye of Instant Death]
An attack without exceptions slowed the rotation speed of Professor Mahabharata’s mana barrier, forcing its penetration through that gap, and demanded an instant death adjudication.
[Spirit Separation]
Professor Mahabharata split and projected one of the souls of the life he held within him, consuming the instant death adjudication.
“I told you, right? It’s still too early for you to frolic around like a naughty little dragon.”
The accumulated stress burst forth, and Professor Mahabharata lost his temper.
It was the moment that signaled the start of an epic trifecta confrontation.
