Chapter 482: The Scene of Consciousness (2)
"Knowing your place, huh!"
As soon as Pan shouted, the eight-armed gorilla creature let out a cry and used its arms to leap into the air, soaring skyward. The creature disappeared into the darkness, only to reemerge, descending vertically toward Oliver and his companions, swinging its eight arms like a barrage of bombs.
"Kyah! Kyak! Kyak!!"
Each time the gorilla swung its eight arms, shockwaves tore through the air, creating a deafening aftershock. The power matched its massive size, but it wasn’t just raw strength at play. Though the arms seemed to flail wildly, each punch carried a refined technique.
The strikes didn’t overlap needlessly, nor did they slice through empty space in vain; each punch's trajectory was meticulously calculated, delivering a series of seamless and flawless consecutive attacks.
The combination of eight arms and technique formed a skillful display.
However, with the black magician’s sight, Oliver managed to evade in time, and Pinkman, taking his cue from Oliver, also managed to escape the attack range.
The others were the paladins.
Instead of evading, the paladins confronted the gorilla creature head-on.
They skillfully deflected the rain of fists coming from above and wielded weapons infused with holy power to sever the creature's arms.
"Kyah━━!!!"
The gorilla creature screamed in pain.
The paladins did not lose their momentum and prepared to finish it off, but at that moment, new arms abruptly sprouted from the severed stumps, striking the paladins with a sweeping blow.
Caught off guard by the unexpected counterattack, the paladins barely managed to defend themselves as they were sent flying backward.
Oliver, too, was surprised. Regenerative ability... It wasn’t impossible, but something felt off.
A creature's innate abilities were generally correlated with its appearance since creation-type black magic was based on human imagination.
Yet for Oliver, who lacked imaginative thinking, connecting a gorilla with regeneration didn’t make much sense.
‘More than that, it feels a bit different from regeneration… More like repair?’
Oliver focused his vision on the gorilla creature. Soon, he saw something—a thread connected to the gorilla, manipulated by a hand wearing a white glove.
The hand, hidden precariously in the darkness above the gorilla's head, controlled the threads, providing external power and guiding the creature’s movements.
This aid seemed significant, as the gorilla creature moved even faster and more skillfully than before, pushing back the surrounding paladins and Pinkman.
Pow pow pow!!
With each punch, the air exploded, and soon enough, all the companions were forced back, leaving Oliver standing alone.
In that instant, a shadow compressed by Pan formed a physical barrier that blocked the paladins and Pinkman. The ground then shifted beneath them.
Before anyone realized it, the area had transformed into a labyrinth of intestines.
The ground, now resembling intestines, moved in different directions, physically increasing the distance between Oliver and his companions, leaving him completely alone in the darkness.
There was a strange sense of déjà vu.
“Hmm… Am I the only one who feels like this is familiar?”
Pan, wearing a warbonnet and sitting on a throne that didn’t quite fit him, asked.
Oliver nodded, indicating agreement.
“No, I feel it too. The Raville sewers.”
Pan, seemingly sharing the same thought, pointed a dagger at Oliver while picking at his fingernails.
“I knew it! There’s some connection between us, huh?”
“I’m not so sure about that, but it’s nice to meet you in person like this. Back then, it was a bit disappointing to converse through a parrot.”
“Oh, really?”
“Yes, I prefer having conversations face-to-face.”
“Face-to-face, huh…? Heh! Let’s just go with that. Anyway, I’m glad to meet you too. Should I let you go, just like last time?”
Pan wore an annoying expression as he spoke, as if trying to provoke Oliver the way one might an adult. His face naturally exuded an irritating quality, making one want to punch him, but Oliver responded earnestly, just as he would with anyone else.
“Hmm… Could you stop the demon ritual and release everyone else?”
“No, that’s not possible.”
“Ah, then that’s fine with me. Leaving alone would be meaningless anyway. But thank you for the offer.”
Oliver’s calm and polite attitude had the opposite effect, causing Pan, who had been trying to provoke him, to feel anger.
It felt as if he was being dismissed as a nobody.
Was that why? Pan suddenly wanted to see Oliver’s expression change, even if he had to force it.
“Not wanting to leave alone… Does that mean there’s someone you’re worried about here? Like in the sewers?”
“Yes, I was hired for this, so I’d like everyone in the group to be safe if possible… May I ask a question as well?”
“…??”
“Do you like darkness, by any chance?”
“….”
“I just thought you seemed to use it quite well. It’s said that creation-type black magic draws its power either from affection or fear… from imagination and vivid images. Did you ever work in a mine? Or perhaps as a chimney sweep?”
Oliver speculated based on the limited creation-type black magic books he had read.
Guessing wasn’t Oliver’s specialty, but Pan’s reaction suggested he had hit the mark.
Pan’s face twisted in a scowl, displaying the kind of emotion seen when someone is caught off guard.
Pan gestured with his finger, commanding the gorilla or the glove-clad creature controlling it to attack Oliver.
The eight heavy yet razor-sharp fists flew in rapid succession, leaving no gaps.
Pow pow pow!!
The noisy shockwaves erupted, and the flurry of punches drove Oliver skillfully into a corner. Whenever it seemed like there was enough pressure, a deadly strike would follow.
Fortunately, Oliver dodged all the attacks with reflexes far superior to what he had before.
The speed and skill were impressive, but still fell short compared to a paladin or a senior member of the Development Opposition Committee like Bartholomew.
Thus, not only did Oliver evade the attacks, but he also made contact with the gorilla creature, injecting it with disease-type black magic, including paralysis, lethargy, dullness, and nerve disruption to slow its movements. He then fired a bullet filled with wrath at the glove creature in the sky, exploding it. After that, he swung his quarterstaff upward as if to cleave the gorilla creature.
Slash!!
He swung with the intent to tear it apart, but just before the strike landed, the intestine-like ground shook, throwing Oliver off balance and reducing the impact of his attack.
Because of this, the gorilla creature wasn’t completely torn apart.
Failing to bisect it, the gorilla creature clasped its four pairs of arms together, attempting to restrain Oliver, and at that precise moment, Pan extended the dagger in his hand.
The dagger's length suddenly stretched, aiming to pierce Oliver in an instant.
Thwack!!
At the last possible moment, Oliver broke free from the grip using both his physical strength and the power of his black suit, barely managing to dodge.
“Oh! You’re stronger than you look!”
Pan taunted as he withdrew the dagger, while the gorilla creature clutched its wound and swung its fists at Oliver.
The glove creature had disappeared, halting the regeneration, but Pan quickly attached a new glove creature to repair it.
‘Darkness that even restricts the black magician’s sight, a ground that shifts unpredictably, and a horde of creatures… This place is practically Pan's playground.’
Oliver analyzed Pan's black magic.
Not only did Pan control the surroundings, but each of the creatures was powerful or possessed special abilities, making them extremely troublesome to deal with.
With conventional methods, victory would only depend on being faster or slower, making defeat inevitable.
At that moment, Pan spoke.
“Eating the flesh of the Flesh Chef seems to have made you quite strong.”
“…Did you see that?”
“Of course! Though I didn’t expect that guy to go down like that. I can’t understand it! How could you gain his strength just by eating his flesh…? Tell me, are you a contractor who’s made a pact with a demon?”
A "contractor" referred to someone who had made a deal with a demon, gaining power and knowledge in return.
“No, I’ve only indirectly encountered demons before. I’ve never made a deal with one.”
Pan hesitated, reacting to Oliver's words.
“…You’ve seen a demon?”
“Yes, twice. Once when my master was killed, and another time during a fight with the Flesh Chef.”
“You’re not lying, are you?”
“Probably not. The demon even greeted me.”
“…”
Pan didn’t respond, staring at Oliver with a frightening expression, as if trying to determine if he was telling the truth or not.
“Damn it… Your emotions are too weak for me to tell whether you’re lying.”
“Pardon?”
“No, there’s nothing to apologize for. I’m sure it’s a lie anyway. A demon greeting a mere human? That’s obviously nonsense. You’re just a human.”
The notion was so absurd to Pan that Oliver didn’t know how to respond. So, he decided to ask a question.
“May I ask a question now?”
“What are you curious about?”
“I heard that Prometheus Corporation made a deal with a demon to create the Red Men using raw magic stones. Do you know anything about that?”
“I’d like to answer, but I’m too busy to respond right now.”
“What’s keeping you busy?”
“I need to capture and torture you to get a proper answer. Adults lie all the time.”
Pan said this abruptly and manipulated the surrounding darkness, forming a specific airflow.
Soon, within the dark currents, a grotesque-looking crocodile emerged, its jaws snapping menacingly at Oliver.
Snap!
Oliver dodged the snapping jaws with ease, but he was immediately struck from behind.
A massive bear-like doll had appeared, hitting him in the back of the head.
Using a refined version of the shadow portal, it instantly moved behind him. Other creatures followed— a four-winged rooster general, a nutcracker doll, a boogieman, and the gorilla—all launching a series of ambushes against Oliver.
The rooster general attacked fiercely with its beak and four weapons, the nutcracker doll aimed for any opening with its blade, the boogieman tried to drag Oliver into the darkness, and the gorilla swung its fists.
[Greedy Flame]
Faced with the overwhelming mobility and the sheer number of creatures using the darkness, Oliver once again resorted to the Greedy Flame.
The black flames, born from the mingling of his greed and magical energy, instantly consumed the creatures clinging to him, feeding on them to grow in size. In that state, Oliver launched a direct assault on Pan.
As expected, the Pan before him was not real.
It was a fake, cleverly disguised by the darkness.
When the Greedy Flame burned away the darkness, a creature resembling a combination of an anglerfish and a tumor emerged.
This grotesque creature was connected to the intestine-like tunnel and, rather than suffering from the flames, it smiled and swallowed the fire.
[That’s a Fisherman’s Maw. It can deceive and devour its opponents, or absorb attacks that were meant to strike it!]
Pan’s voice echoed from all around, using the darkness as a medium. He was, unsurprisingly, hiding within it. It was a cunning move.
Creation-type and manipulation-type magic users generally hid themselves whenever possible.
[Now, all my creatures are resistant to those dark flames!]
Pan said, and then released all the creatures hidden within the intestines in one overwhelming attack.
Oliver used the Greedy Flame again to test whether Pan’s claim was true. Just as Pan had said, the creatures withstood the flames to a certain extent, advancing with their sheer numbers.
It seemed the Fisherman’s Maw had granted resistance to the other creatures through the intestine-creature network.
Even when Oliver used the black magician’s sight to focus, it was hard to find a gap as the swarm of creatures closed in on him, leaving no escape.
At that moment, Oliver caused the only visible black light source to explode, creating noise and a blinding flash.
Beeeeep! The ringing sound echoed, and the blinded creatures hesitated briefly. But soon, they resumed their charge, following Pan’s commands.
The boogieman's hook-like arm grabbed Oliver's leg, the clown stabbed his left shoulder with a scythe, the toy soldier pierced his knee with a bayonet, the rooster general pecked at his right shoulder, and the nutcracker doll stabbed his thigh with a knife.
Several other creatures attacked as well, inflicting injuries that were not life-threatening but enough to severely weaken him.
Pan laughed.
[Heheheh!! It’s over, isn’t it? We’ve almost taken down all the others too!]
“Oh, is that so?”
Oliver responded as a new light source ignited.
But something was off. The sound came from an unexpected direction—not from where Oliver stood, but from the direction of his shadow.
“…”
The creatures all turned, startled, looking at the Oliver they had captured and then at the direction of the sound.
At the edge of Oliver's shadow, a black figure emerged, peeling away like a snake shedding its skin, revealing itself.
It was none other than Oliver.
[…]
Stunned, Pan couldn’t utter a word as Oliver explained.
“I mimicked the Fisherman’s Maw. I’ve studied makeup and disguise techniques, so it was surprisingly easy to copy. Thank you for demonstrating such an interesting technique.”
Recalling what he had learned at the House of Angels, Oliver bowed politely to Pan, then demonstrated just how well he had mimicked the technique.
With a snap of his fingers, the shadow disguised as Oliver unraveled like a thread and transformed into a mass of tentacles, devouring the creatures that had attacked him like a carnivorous plant.
Even the ones that tried to resist, like the gorilla creature, couldn’t escape being swallowed, thanks to the deceptive tactic based on the Fisherman’s Maw.
Chomp. Chomp. Chomp...
[…]
Pan, astonished, quickly summoned more creatures hidden within the intestines, and they poured forth like monsters from a nightmare.
But this time, Oliver moved a step ahead.
He had received news that his companions were in danger, and with the demon summoning ritual still needing to be stopped, there was no more time to waste.
Oliver pulled a dark red branch from his coat.
It was the last one he had made from a blackened tree during a sparring session with Bartholomew of the Development Opposition Committee.
‘I should have prepared more,’ Oliver thought, regretting not bringing extra branches as he thrust the last one into the intestine-like ground and began chanting.
[Black Magic: Parasite]
[Druid’s Magic: Accelerated Growth]