“Blood Magic.”
The Lord of Bloodsuckers, Progenitor Lasty, is using a magic that Candy Star can wield…
If only she could use it perfectly, even No Matter How Leo or the Sword Saint would be overwhelmed, but it’s definitely not an easy magic.
The Demon Race is a race that has reached the pinnacle of magic.
Lasty’s magic, with half of her body being demon, surpasses me in certain aspects.
“Can you learn it?”
“Of course, True Blood Magic is out of the question. She won’t even use blood to perform magic in the first place.”
“Candy Star’s own mana? That won’t harmonize.”
It’s questionable whether the rituals of Blood Magic can fully contain Candy Star’s starlit mana.
Blood Magic is a sorcery made of deep red light blooming in thick darkness.
While it shares the concept of light, the difference is as vast as between heaven and earth from true light.
Clatter.
“Of course, it won’t work as is. I made some modifications. The basic ritual will surely respond without trouble.”
“…You made it yourself?”
“Yep.”
I thought she’d just fit it to her own, but I didn’t expect her to create magic for her disciple.
Lasty’s magic is an embodiment of her long history filled with her entire life.
Lasty has rewritten history herself.
“Unexpected. I thought you wouldn’t do something like that.”
“What do you mean? I’m over it now.”
“Really?”
“Yep. I’m not going to insist like someone else.”
Stubbornness…
“…Not wrong, though.”
The Pharaoh took the body I recovered, but still lacks the power to possess it.
The body itself hasn’t fared well over such a long time.
During the stabilization period, instead of living as a statue, the Pharaoh is focusing on the reconstruction of the Desert Empire, Deserthum, as promised.
Lasty let out a chuckle.
“It’s funny that you still enjoy playing in the sand. It’s not like you’ve been idle for thousands of years or anything.”
“Maybe spending thousands of years doing nothing made him miss it even more.”
“Sounds childish.”
“Does Lasty want anything?”
Swish.
Lasty’s two red eyes gaze softly at me.
What she desires.
“What do you want?”
“I promised the Pharaoh to hand over Elbrite’s matters and grant him the desert, but thinking about it, Serrek is doing it all while the Pharaoh gets all the rewards, right?”
Of course, rebuilding the empire is a good thing for Serrek as well.
I know for sure through the past that they have a complicated relationship, and Serrek also wishes for the revival of Deserthum.
But aside from the rewards, the Pharaoh hasn’t actually done anything.
“If it were up to me, I’d want to take it back… but I’ll let it slide for Serrek’s sake.”
“So, you’ll take care of me as well?”
“Yes. Just in time, I’m also helping with the professor’s work.”
For someone like Lasty, taking care of others is quite plausible.
Rashti, fiddling with her empty teacup, soon cast a spell to refill it.
She took another sip of tea.
“…Not very sisterly of you.”
“?”
“I mean, being nice to ‘monsters’ like us. It feels like just yesterday you gathered us all and told us to survive on our own.”
The ancient beasts were all weapons or sealed entities within my soul.
They were all vicious beings that threw the world into chaos, and regardless of their own pasts, did not care for or favor anyone.
If there was any favoritism, it was solely for their use as ‘weapons.’
I tilted my head.
“But you took care of me a lot.”
“I know. That’s why I’m even more grateful. But you didn’t set up such equal conditions, did you? You used this weapon in the last fight, so you have to use that weapon next.”
“Well, it’s a war after all.”
I wasn’t playing Pokémon.
This was a war where lives were at stake, and I was simply using the most efficient weapons for the fight.
The reason Rashti often appeared was that she possessed strong power compared to other monsters.
Tap. Tap.
Rashti touched her clothes with her pale hand.
“Do you have any other wishes?”
“I told you, I’m not attached.”
“What about establishing a kingdom for bloodsuckers?”
“Are you going to kill me? Why would I go crazy and want that.”
Right.
I got up from my seat and embraced Rashti.
The warmthless body gradually absorbed my warmth.
“…I have a wish now.”
“If your wish is to treat me casually, I won’t grant it.”
“Treat me casually.”
“No way.”
“Tch. You said you’d grant it before.”
“That’s a different matter. You can’t fix a mistake by doing something right.”
“So if I do better, will you let it go?”
After a long hug, Rashti finally released me and looked at me.
Despite having lived for almost ten thousand years, her eyes still held a spark of hope.
A hope regained long ago because of me.
“Depends on how well you do.”
Rashti closed her eyes with a satisfied expression.
“That’s all I need…”
“Good night.”
“Yeah…”
Click.
■
The academy’s classes were progressing steadily, and the levels of students and rankers were rising each day.
At this pace, by the time the year changes, everyone should be able to deal at least a scratch to the Kraken.
“Lilyda.”
“Lily?”
“Really?”
“Lady Lily!”
“Wow, it’s true?”
I had finally made it to a field hunting ground.
A place where one of the few level 80 monsters, a group of red-horned black horses, respawned.
High-level monsters don’t respawn; once killed, they disappear forever. However, there were hunting grounds where resurrection was possible.
A special hunting ground with a mechanism that resurrected field monsters every certain cycle instead of the system-based respawn.
A special hunting ground with a unique gimmick that resurrects monsters in the field at regular intervals, not on phones.
As I revealed myself in this place where a series of groups were hunting, the murmurs grew louder.
From their appearance, they seemed like a Medium and Small Guild.
One man, who appeared to be the leader, approached me.
He had a sword strapped to his back, but he didn’t look very strong.
“Wow… is that really Lady Lily?”
“That’s right. Were you hunting here first?”
“Oh, yes! If you could just step aside—cough!”
The man, who had approached like he was enchanted, was suddenly grabbed from behind and fell to the ground.
A woman wearing red gauntlets with a displeased expression was standing there.
She grabbed the head of the struggling man and pressed him down with her weight.
“What nonsense are you spouting? Didn’t you know this place was obtained through a deal with the ‘Enemy Moon’ Guild?”
“Ugh, but it’s Lady Lily…”
“Isn’t the experience for my kids important? That kid Gilma is going insane.”
The woman quickly looked up at me.
Her level seemed to be around 70, maybe in the high 70s at best.
Compared to the countless rankers in the top 100 and 1000 I had seen so far, she was quite weak.
Her stats were lacking, and her equipment was insufficient.
I hadn’t checked closely, but her skill level probably wasn’t up to par with rankers either.
But that made it even more interesting.
In fact, most people playing Deoen are like this, while those like Leona and Yena are exceptions.
“Are you here to hunt, by any chance?”
“Oh, I have some tests to do. Could you let me know when you finish hunting?”
“Of course—agh!”
“Sorry, but we need to use it and return it. It’s unlikely to happen.”
Creeeeek. Creeeeek.
“Y-you! How can you treat Gilma like this! Are you even a bear guild master?”
“What do you mean by returning it?”
“Don’t ignore me!”
“As you know, high-level hunting grounds are limited. Unlike low-level areas, there aren’t multiple servers for hunting. Plus, if you die, there’s no respawn.”
At first, it was to build strength and experience, so the servers were divided, but after reaching a certain level, respawns were blocked to prevent mindless hunting.
Deoen itself is a game more focused on dungeons than on hunting.
“But you can’t run dungeons all the time. If it’s not hidden, you don’t level up much, right? And it’s hard to find high-level monsters.”
“Aren’t there many beyond the continent?”
They said a New Continent had opened up with high-level monsters everywhere.
The woman, the bear guild master who was pressing the man down, shook her head.
“They’re too strong. It’s not just us leveling up; we need to take care of the guild members too.”
“Ugh.”
“Besides, going on expeditions costs money. Finding new hunting grounds, preparing for dangers, searching for linked quests… oh.”
“Prepare for the risks and find the linked quests. Ugh.”
“So, you mean we’re going to a place I know well?”
“The level there isn’t 90. How can you even handle it?”
“So that’s the struggle you’ve been facing, huh?”
“No matter how resurrection is possible and there’s no pain, dying once means losing experience points, some gold, and a few items.”
“While high-grade items typically won’t drop unless luck is really against you, it’s still a burden.”
“And consumables can get pretty pricey too.”
“Anyway, since hunting grounds are limited, people will inevitably gather. This is a hunting ground managed by Jeokwol Guild, and we’re borrowing it for a bit.”
“Ah, I see.”
“Hehe. But even so, we’re making good income lately. The horns from the horses we catch are magical materials, and they sell better than expected.”
“But you have to pay a commission to Jeokwol.”
“Whatever, we’re earning at least. But come on out already. It’s about time for the respawn.”
“Don’t talk nonsense. I have to level up today.”
“Fine, fine.”
The woman stands up, threateningly.
The man, who regained his freedom, gets up with a disappointed expression and scratches his head.
“Cough. Lady Lily!! If I ever get the chance, I will definitely…!”
“Spouting nonsense.”
“Should I help you?”
“What?”
“I’m saying I’ll help you. I’ll assist with the hunting.”
The guild master, a man leading a small group of about 15 members, glares wide-eyed.
For a moment, you could hear the shouts of disbelief.
The guild manager, who had been standing still, suspiciously asked, “Why?”
“Because I have an experiment. If you fill your targets, don’t you have time left?”
“Yes! That’s correct— ugh!”
“What do you mean, of course? There’s a respawn time, so you can’t catch too many. No matter how much you speed things up, at best you’ll get just one more. With an hour of spawn, it doesn’t mean much.”
The woman said that the time to use the hunting ground borrowed from Jeokwol Guild is a total of 6 hours, allowing for at most 4 hunts, or 3 if it’s minimal.
No matter how much you cut down the time for catching, with the spawn interval, it’ll max out at 5 times.
Moreover, it’s not just about leveling up; it’s about leveling up the entire guild members, so the members need to hit the monsters themselves.
Saying you can catch them all on your own is meaningless.
“Then we should just increase the spawns.”
“…Huh?”
“Oh! There’s a way to do that?”
Catching more than 5 times.
You just need to resurrect the dead enemies faster.
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