Devil’s Night – 2

Both Mireina and L looked as if they had something to say to me, but as I climbed the wall, they both turned their gaze away. The moon was radiating a black light, resonating with something in my heart. Solas, sitting on my shoulder, could feel it as well. He let out a groan as his body began to exude mana. I quickly figured out what I was feeling.

“Mana.”

“A mana that stimulates only demons, to be precise. It is the cause of the Devil’s Night. It doesn’t affect non-demons, but you feel it too, right? Even if you belong to a higher system, you can’t be free from the night.” A source of mana that stimulated all demons, regardless of what system they belonged to. Unlike the Wind of Eutinus, the intent behind it was clear and almost comforting.

Jinma’s mana? No, not exactly, although it was similar. The mana emanating from the moon made the mana in my body boil and stimulated my nerves. It was more violent than I thought; there was no telling how it would’ve influenced me without my resistance to abnormal statuses. But then, L opened her arms. Pale pink mana materialized and spread over the wall, including over me. It had a scent that reminded me of her.

I could feel her power invading my mind, making me feel as if I were invincible so long as she was with me. I used the power I had trained so far, freeing myself from these blind thoughts. However, the others…

“Captain, I’m in love. She’s an angel.”

“It’s an illusion, be alert.”

[Strength is welling inside of me. It’s as if all the dark energy dominating me has disappeared.]

“Myu, myu, myu!” Certainly, it was the power of fascination. It didn’t end with making everyone in this space fall in love with her, either. It pushed one to make the impossible possible and made everything but her fade away. It was absolute power. She gave me a look that said, ‘Did you see?’ and I let out a laugh. Lee Chan-yu was grabbing his chest at the sight of her, which made me laugh harder.

“Under the Devil’s Night, all demons are blessed with hatred. As long as you are underground, you cannot escape from it. Except for at one place- this fortress.” Her power spread throughout the castle, and I understood why I had to build it with her. An unknown monster had created the castle, but it was L who was protecting it. I could feel it. Just beyond the fortress, the energy of life was running wild.

“Since the Great Fusion, the concept of streets in the underground has been lost. However, with this castle shrouded in a huge amount of mana, it becomes easy to find.” Rain didn’t hesitate to recommend dangerous paths for my growth, but this time he put the extra burden of protecting their home onto me. Rain greeted me as if he had been waiting, but I wondered if he had been originally planning on enduring the night alone.

“I’m glad I can help out.”

“If L heard that, she would’ve been so happy she would’ve fainted.”

“I’ll tell her a little later.”

“Fate!” I looked up at the black moon. Just because I was out of its immediate influence didn’t mean it was unrecognizable. It was a huge source of mana.

“Where is that moon? Does this underground space include the entire universe?”

“Whoo, well…you might be able to get there.” Rain stood next to me, touching the wall with his gloved hands and closing his eyes.

“We’ll protect the castle. Fate, please.”

“I’ll do my best.” It was like a start signal. In the thick fog beyond the fortress, demons with deformed bodies began to appear. I didn’t know if the fog was interfering with my Detection or if the space was distorted, but I hadn’t sensed them before now. Their numbers were above the hundreds.“Don’t leave.” I grabbed Cain, who tried to cross the wall to go outside. It was filled with higher system entities. Even if I were thrown out there, I wouldn’t have an idea what to do. My whole body was trembling with uncontrollable excitement. The demons didn’t fight with each other but collectively ran with a purpose toward the castle. It was such a remarkable march that it seemed like someone was leading them.

[It’s there…our secret garden.]

A voice echoed through this underground world. The voice, it’s speaker unknown, flowed into everyone’s ears.

[Everything we need is there.]

The demons’ speed increased with that voice, granting them the power of the black moon. What was truly scary was that many of them still maintained a sense of reason, and yet could move with such coordination.

“Captain!” Hundreds, if not thousands of magic spells, floated into the air as the distance was closed. Some of them targeted me directly, but the majority were aimed at the castle.

“You don’t have to worry about magic.” Rain whispered, and he was right. All of that magic was lost as it tried to collide with the wall, the mana itself dissipating.

“Come.” L spoke for the first time. The roar of the animalistic demons grew loud, and their rushing shook the ground. If their target weren’t the castle I was in, I would’ve clapped at how awe-inspiring it was.

[Climb!]

“I am here!”

“Ahhhhh!” One by one, the enemies began to climb with ease up the high wall. However, most of them let out a scream and were disintegrated as they climbed. Those ones weren’t higher-level entities.

“You can’t kill all of us!”

“Rush them! If you survive, you’ll get it!” The demons did not hesitate even under the threat of mass extinction. They were flocking to this place just as Rain had said, like moths to a flame. I felt like a fool for judging them as reasonable. Certainly, they could think, but they were hardly tactical about it. Many higher-level entities were mixed in with the lower ones, making their way up the wall. No matter how great Rain, A, and L’s power were, they couldn’t defend all of the walls. We had to step in where they couldn’t.

“Lee Chan-yu, summon only elite troops!”

“Okay!” There was no need to worry about the sub-system individuals; our only targets were the higher-level entities. I apologized mentally to Lee Chan-yu for pushing him so hard.

[Oahhhhhh!]

Cain roared and jumped high into the air, striking down with his huge fist with enough force to smash through the wall. By themselves, they didn’t have the power needed to stop the higher-level entities, but L made it possible. She was a top-level buffer, and the demons that made it to the top were already weakened from her defensive magic. L’s energy, which was currently in control of the entire fortress, was reducing their strength.

[Go on.]

[Go on, take it all.]

[Eat it.]“Kiahhh!”

I fired out my blackmine while simultaneously activating Lunatic Trickster and Belkena Spell, doing all I could to capture the enemy. This was because I had to stop everything that the rest of the party couldn’t cover.

[You annoy me!]

[Kikikiii!]

“Mireina, stick with me!”

“Okay!” Fortunately, Mireina could understand my intentions quickly, thanks to our relationship as master and subordinate. She began to fire arrows at the enemies I had captured. Both her bow and arrows were provided by Rain and were effective even against these enemies. Feeling relieved, I hit the floor, running. Ubiquitous took me behind the enemy’s back, a movement more natural than breathing. My Twilight Sword slashed through the neck of the enemy with incredible speed.

[You gained 459 experience]

[You obtained 28 gold.]

[You have acquired the Dark Shard.]

I started going through them one by one, starting with the weakest of them. Now that I knew how to use Ubiquitous and Reaper, I didn’t have to worry about being damaged by this many enemies.

“Myu.” With a mischievous cry, Solas began to move as well. I wondered when he had prepared, but by the time I realized what had happened, a whole network of spider webs was in the air. A tribe of demons rising from the wall was caught in it.

[Eat it.]

[Everyone is prey. Enjoy the sacrament.]

“It’s a little spider!”

Only

“I can’t escape?!”

“Myu.” The busy Solas caught both lower and higher-level entities. The spider webs held them with no issue, and Solas began to move across them with a shine in his eyes. He stabbed and killed the closest monster, and then began to devour it. At that moment…

[You gained 519 experience]

[Level up!]

“…What?” My eyes trembled, and it took me a second to register what had happened. But every time Solas killed an immobile demon and devoured them, the experience would come to me.

“Reaper…Predation…” Solas was a being that was connected to me. He used my abilities, and his growth fueled my own. It was like there were two of me now.

“Myu!” Solas cried out cutely as he continued going through the demons, the experience still flooding in.

Black moonlight lit up the fortress. I let out a bitter laugh and hit the floor running once more.