Chapter 561: Jane (3)
A faint hiss...
The moment Jane saw the figure emerging from the darkened lake, a visceral sense of repulsion crept down her spine.
It was an unusual reaction for her, someone who had grown up seeing all manner of horrors at the Sisterhood.
However, once she took a closer look at the figure rising from the lake, she immediately understood.
It had the body of a human but the head of a fish—something fundamentally disturbing and deeply unsettling about it made her recoil.
Jane’s reaction was entirely natural in this situation.
Of course, Oliver had a reaction of his own. While different from Jane's, it was still noticeable.
“What...what is that?”
Cuddling closer into Oliver's embrace, Jane asked, forgetting the good mood she'd had just moments ago.
“It’s a creature of Master Pan.”
“Pan? Do you mean the Pan I know?”
“Yes. If you mean the Eternal Child of the Black Hand, then yes.”
Oliver replied in an exceptionally calm voice, contrasting with Jane’s anxious tone.
But Oliver wasn’t as calm as he seemed. Doubts began to stir in his mind.
He had encountered Pan’s creatures so many times on the New Continent that he was almost sick of them, yet the creature before him now was different from what he remembered.
The previous creatures, while disturbing in their own way, had at least shown a hint of the innocence and purity characteristic of a child. Now, there was none of that left.
The disturbing aspects had increased blatantly, so much so that it was as if something from a fairy tale had turned into a horror novel. Though it might seem like a small change, given the traits of creation-type black magic, it couldn’t be dismissed lightly.
Creation-type black magic was one of the most challenging and intricate branches of black magic, reflecting the sorcerer's disposition the most. It wasn’t something that could be changed on a whim.
The creature’s transformation suggested that, for better or worse, Pan himself had changed significantly, increasing the variables at play.
‘Well, after all, he’s been in contact with a demon... Could this oppressive aura surrounding us also be an effect of that?’
Recalling his time on the New Continent, Oliver detected a ring-like aura of black magic surrounding the area.
It was similar to, but distinct from, the aura of the Sleeping Forest. Surrounding the villa, the aura formed a barrier, creeping from the outside inward, seemingly intended to trap them.
The scale and complexity of the magic were substantial, and Oliver, distracted by his conversation with Jane and their surroundings, noticed it a second too late.
It appeared this was a carefully orchestrated trap. Oliver wondered if his pure black magic skills alone would be enough to seize control of the aura.
“...!”
While Oliver was taking just a few seconds to assess the situation, a fish-man with one arm crushed underfoot lunged at him with its webbed hand.
Its clawed, scaly hand could have been a lethal weapon, but it moved slower than expected, and Oliver responded with ease thanks to the reflexes he’d honed in countless battles.
[Hate Bullet]
The extracted emotion transformed instantly into a bullet and shot forward at supersonic speed, piercing the fish-man squarely between its wide forehead.
Splat!
Moist with water, the creature’s head burst with a wet pop, creating a massive hole.
The fish-man collapsed backward, sending ripples across the lake.
Jane exhaled in relief, but it seemed she’d done so a bit too soon.
“It’s not over yet.”
“It seems that way.”
Despite being gripped momentarily by fear and disgust, Jane maintained her composure and answered as she watched dozens of figures approaching along the boardwalk above the lake.
Just like crocodiles lurking to ambush prey, human-sized shadows lurked just beneath the water’s surface, moving toward them.
Realizing she might be hindering Oliver by clinging to him, Jane mustered her courage, released her hold, and stood beside him.
Though she couldn’t avoid needing protection, her resolve was clear—at the very least, she wouldn’t get in his way.
Seeing Jane’s emotions through his black-mage's perception, Oliver said nothing, and instead focused on the approaching fish-men, unleashing a barrage of Hate Bullets toward them.
Bullets modified to retain their potency even underwater.
Swoosh-splash!
The hail of hate bullets hit the lake's surface like a machine gun, sending up water columns and resounding in loud bursts.
Most of the targeted creatures were shattered underwater by the piercing hate bullets, though a few managed to sense the danger. They scattered swiftly, then surfaced with their torsos out of the water, screaming in Oliver's direction.
The creatures attacked with physical shockwaves.
Oliver immediately responded.
[Out Cry]
The processed emotion in Oliver’s hand transformed into a horde of enraged faces, which roared forward with a vengeful cry.
The two waves of shock collided, seemingly cancelling each other out, but then Oliver’s Out Cry intensified, pushing back and injuring the fish-men's shockwave.
Though he didn’t eliminate the fish-men outright, he shook their brains and internal organs enough to briefly paralyze them—enough time for Oliver to unleash more Hate Bullets and punch holes through their heads.
Screeee!!
Just as Oliver extended his finger like a gun to shoot, a horrifying sound, a mix of a woman’s scream and a raptor’s screech, echoed from above.
It was a creature of Pan’s, resembling a monstrous bird with a woman’s face, insect wings, and a bird’s body. Oliver recognized it from an earlier encounter.
It seemed the creature had waited until now to join in, but the one slight comfort was that it targeted Oliver instead of Jane.
‘I thought they would go for Miss Jane first, but maybe I was mistaken?’
In that brief moment, the bird creature had approached close behind Oliver. However, he didn’t turn, continuing to aim at the fish-men instead.
“Minion.”
With that, the minion in Oliver’s arms sprang out, moving behind him with its signature uncanny movements. It fired a concentrated Hate Bullet at the bird creature closing in.
Splat! Thud!
With a sound like spit hitting the ground, the creature’s shoulder exploded, and simultaneously, the foreheads of dozens of fish-men approaching also burst open.
With nothing but basic black magic and refined skills, Oliver had fended off an encircling attack from both front and back.
It was a clean, almost artful display of skill.
But, true to form, Oliver didn’t indulge in his success, immediately attending to the next matter.
He gently took Jane’s waist, guiding her to a safer spot, then raised his quarterstaff to strike the neck of the still-living bird creature, severing its head.
Caw!
With a final, short death rattle, the creature disintegrated into dust.
In under a minute, so much had happened. And though the danger wasn’t entirely over...
“We should escape from here for now.”
Oliver looked at the seemingly endless wave of fish-men and spoke.
Despite killing dozens of them, the number of fish-men hadn’t diminished. The massive lake was swarming with what looked like hundreds of these creatures.
A significant number were approaching them, while the rest dug at the dirt around the lake, expanding its borders outward.
It was unclear what they intended, but fighting on these terms seemed unwise—it would be better to retreat.
Pan’s combat strategy relied on sheer numbers through his creatures, so there was no need to match him head-on.
Seeing the situation, Jane quickly agreed with Oliver.
“Good idea. Let’s head to the villa.”
Nodding, Oliver quickly formed his Black Suit and lifted Jane once more, springing off the ground in a single bound.
The boardwalk planks shattered underfoot as Oliver and Jane swiftly leaped away from the lake.
The fish-men, frustrated at losing their target, let out eerie wails before diving back into the lake to join others in digging at the lake’s edges...
They were expanding territory.
...
‘It’s spreading fast.’
With just a few leaps, Oliver reached the party villa from the lake, assessing the situation.
What he noted was not his own speed, but rather the rate at which Pan’s black magic field was expanding. Just moments ago, it had merely surrounded the area, and he thought it would take time to fully envelop them, yet it had already infiltrated extensively.
An atmosphere similar to, yet different from, the Sleeping Forest’s…
The landscape was already distorting.
Most notably, a swarm of creatures surrounded the grand villa as if to attack it, further evidencing the extent of the invasion.
“What on earth is this?! Where did these monsters...!!”
“Damn it! Get out of here!!”
“Stay sharp! There’s a lot of them!!”
The villa guards and hired security screamed as they held off Pan’s creatures.
They appeared from all around, quite numerous and, to his surprise, effective against the threat.
Armed with melee weapons, the mana users formed defensive lines to hold off the creatures, while the gunners and mages equipped with heavy arms and magical firearms provided supporting fire from the rear, delivering considerable damage.
Basic, yet effective tactics.
Considering the high social status of the party guests, their defensive measures were clearly superior.
Yet, their opponent was Pan, a Finger of the Black Hand.
Among the ordinary creatures, a more ominous one emerged.
“Screeeech...”
Lumbering through the trees around the villa was a gigantic, humanoid stag, with branches like antlers sprouting from its head.
The stag’s body was frosted over in places, with signs of decay, giving it the appearance of a frozen corpse.
Indeed, it emitted a foul, rotting stench, and showed little reaction even when struck by gunfire.
Then, a mage’s fireball struck its body. Flames engulfed it in a towering blaze that would have reduced most creatures to ashes in an instant. However, the fire was quickly smothered as an icy blizzard formed around the stag.
Letting out an eerie wail, it exhaled a breath laced with frost and disease—a deadly combination that was like venom in both magic and black magic, working together with powerful synergy to freeze and corrupt the very ground it touched, spreading toward the villa’s defenders.
At that moment, a radiant golden light characteristic of holy magic burst from within the villa, cleansing the cursed breath mingled with frost and disease and even damaging the creatures.
“Skreeee!!”
Though the creatures suffered only mild burns and discomfort, it was to be expected.
Normally, a creature born from black magic would be vulnerable to such purification, but Pan’s creations were resilient. Having been crafted from human flesh and souls, they were partially resistant to holy magic.
Oliver wasn’t particularly surprised by this, as he’d learned from experience.
What did surprise him, however, was the composure of the holy knights—they showed no signs of panic, despite their holy magic failing to achieve its usual effect. They maintained their calm, as if they had anticipated this or had a backup plan.
Fortunately, the source of this confidence became apparent.
One of the holy knights stepped forward, wielding a heavy gatling gun in one hand.
The scene stirred a sense of déjà vu.
As the knight pulled the trigger, bullets infused with holy power shot out in a yellow torrent, shredding the approaching creatures near the villa.
Ratatatatatatat!!
Though Pan’s creatures showed resistance to broad-range holy spells, the combination of concentrated holy power and physical bullets proved too much. Their bodies tore open under the barrage.
The holy knights, their melee weapons also brimming with holy power, carved glowing yellow arcs through the air, slicing through the creatures and swiftly ending the skirmish.
It was clear why they were called holy knights.
However—
“—Is everything all right?”
Jane asked Oliver quietly.
“Hmm?”
“From your perspective, Dave, does it seem manageable? I don’t know much about fighting.”
Despite her earlier fright at seeing the fish-men, Jane had steeled herself, trying to assess the situation objectively.
It was an admirable attitude, and Oliver was genuinely impressed.
“There is one problem.”
“What is it?”
“They can’t keep fighting like this for long. They’re only compressing their energy to increase the power of each attack. It’s strong, but it will take a toll on their stamina.”
“Pan surely knows that, right?”
“Oh, he would know. His specialty is territory control and using waves of creatures, and right now, everything is playing into his strategy.”
“Prolonging the fight isn’t an option... Is there any way to break the stalemate?”
Jane’s question was met with a pause from Oliver, who had no immediate answer.
The best approach would be to seize control of the area and dispel the field, but this particular space was crafted from a mix of creation-type black magic, spatial magic, and barrier techniques, making it a nearly impossible task even for Oliver.
The time he spent lost in the Sleeping Forest was a prime example of this difficulty.
Later, he had managed to gain control of the forest and meet the Princess in Slumber, but only by using his own blood as a conduit—a sort of trick rather than pure skill.
He could use that trick again, but he was reluctant.
After all, the opponent was Pan.
It wasn’t that the Princess in Slumber lacked skill compared to Pan, but Pan had recently made contact with a demon on the New Continent, introducing unknown variables.
After witnessing a demon’s overwhelming power firsthand, Oliver was all the more cautious.
He hesitated to use his blood, lest Pan find a way to exploit it, just as Theodore, the grand master of the Life School, once had.
With too little information and too many unknowns, Oliver finally offered an honest response.
“There is one way to escape.”
“What is it?”
“We could head to the edge of Pan’s field and create a spatial fracture, slipping out unnoticed.”
“Is there an edge to this place?”
“Yes, while the magic here may warp space and perception to feel larger, it does have a boundary. Though it’s hard to gain full control of this space, creating a rift at the edge to escape might be possible.”
“Oh, that’s promising.”
“The problem is, using this method, I can’t take too many people with me.”
“...How many?”
“Two, including myself. I’d have to carry one person and move quickly to the edge before Pan notices.”
Indeed, the escape plan involved Oliver taking one person and stealthily moving to the edge before Pan could react.
Though he couldn’t completely seize control of the space, he could use his experience from the Sleeping Forest, subtly causing enough chaos to make his escape with one person possible.
Increasing the number of escapees would complicate things significantly.
With his explanation complete, Oliver asked:
“If you wish, Miss Jane, I could help you escape first.”
Jane hesitated briefly, then shook her head.
“As much as I’d like to, I still have investments tied up in Gallos. If I flee alone from a gathering like this, it’ll complicate my plans.”
Jane spoke with a mix of false bravado and genuine sentiment.
“So, would it be too bold to ask a favor?”
“Of course not.”
“Do you think we could reach the edge faster using something like a car?”
“Perhaps. If we tried, it might be doable.”
“That’s somewhat encouraging... Then, the remaining issue is figuring out how to protect everyone from the creatures’ attacks. They’re barely managing to defend right now.”
Jane’s worry was evident. Even to her untrained eye, it was clear the defense was stretched thin.
After all, the villa’s security was prepared to handle unruly black mages or lawbreakers—not a horde of creatures of this magnitude.
Then, as if remembering something, Oliver suddenly spoke.
“...The shortage of manpower might be solvable.”
Oliver glanced at the leather case slung over his back. Specifically, he looked at Big Mouth.