๐๐ก๐๐ฉ๐ญ๐๐ซ ๐๐; Trap (2)
“I shall be where the scabbard glows. So take this and follow.”
“What is this?”
Before Azel could answer, Gilgamesh spoke.
“Moonlight.”
“You recognize it?”
“I’ve seen it before.”
“That simplifies things.”
“Very well, I shall follow the scabbard’s guidance.”
“Thank you, I appreciate it.”
๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ๐ธ
The next day. . . Oswald headed towards the Unification Square, fully prepared.
12 o’clock, Oswald arrived at the Unification Square.
Roughly 10 minutes later, he was contacted through his communicator.
โHead straight towards the boulevard in the northeast direction.
“Until when?”
โYou will be notified by us.
Oswald moved along the northeast boulevard, as instructed.
After some time, he was contacted once more.
โEnter the alleyway at 10 o’clock.
After zigzagging around, Oswald eventually entered the sewers.
As he entered the sewers, a poorly dressed young vagrant called out to Oswald.
“O. . . Oswald-nim?”
“What?”
“I. . . I was paid to guide you.”
Oswald responded in a dry voice to the slightly terrified young vagrant.
“Is that so? Lead the way.”
After following the young vagrant for a while, they arrived at a place where they could go up. As they went up, masked individuals were waiting for Oswald. . .
They guided Oswald to another location, which turned out to be an empty lot with no one around. The only thing in sight was that it was surrounded by high walls.
“Come up here.”
At that moment, the masked individual called Oswald to a place where a magic circle was drawn.
“What is this?”
“It’s a teleportation magic circle.”
‘๐๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ถ๐จ๐ฉ ๐ฑ๐ญ๐ข๐ฏ๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. . .’
“How do you determine whether or not it’s a teleportation magic circle?”
“Do you have a choice?”
The masked individual was right. In the end, Oswald stepped onto the magic circle, and the masked individuals activated the magic circle. Soon, Oswald was teleported to another place along with a flash of light.
‘๐๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ๐ฆ ๐ช๐ด ๐ต๐ฉ๐ช๐ด?’
It was a dark space where it was difficult to guess where he was.
Judging from the humid and faint stench of excrement, it was likely a space created in the sewers.
‘๐๐ข๐ค๐ฌ ๐ช๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ฆ๐ธ๐ฆ๐ณ, ๐ข๐ง๐ต๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ.’
At that moment, in the distance, Oswald could see Alicia tied up between the masked individuals. Her eyes were covered with a blindfold, and a gag was in her mouth. Fortunately, Oswald confirmed that she didn’t have any major injuries, and calmly asked them their demands.
“Now that I’m here, tell me what you want.”
At that moment, an entity that made Oswald’s holy power tremble appeared among the masked individuals. Judging from the violent reaction of the demonic power detection skill. . . that entity seemed to be a demon of Chaos.
ใHow wonderful it is to meet the rumored dog.ใ
“I wondered where the disgusting smell was coming from. . . It’s the stench of your filthy chaos.”
ใKukukuku, you have a sharp tongue.ใ
The demon of Chaos grabbed Alicia by the hair and lifted her up.
ใDo you still not understand the situation you’re in right now?ใ
Oswald was quite taken aback by the sight, but he didn’t show it outwardly. If he showed any weakness, it would only give the other party an excuse to become more aggressive.
“If you harm a single hair on Alicia’s head, you will not die a complete death.”
ใDo you think I can’t kill her?ใ
“If she dies, I will make sure you experience a hell far worse than Chaos.”
ใI wonder if you’re an emotionless bastard or if you’re just holding back.ใ
‘๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฏ. . .’
He put on a strong front, but he couldn’t help but worry.
ใAlright, I’ll tell you the conditions.ใ
Thud. Thud.
The demon of Chaos took something out of its pocket and threw it in front of Oswald. A blueish bead. . . Oswald could tell what it was. It was. . .
“Demon’s essence?”
ใAbsorb it. If you absorb it, I swear on my soul that I will release the hostage unconditionally and leave this place.ใ
“. . . . . .”
Oswald immediately checked his status. . .
“Ha!”
[๐๐๐ซ๐ฅ-๐ซ๐๐ง๐ค ๐๐ก๐๐จ๐ฌ ๐จ๐ ๐ญ๐ซ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ฌ๐ฌ๐๐ง๐๐]
[๐๐๐ฆ๐จ๐ง๐ข๐ ๐ฉ๐จ๐ฐ๐๐ซ ๐๐ฏ. ๐๐]
[๐๐ญ๐ซ๐๐ง๐ ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ฏ. ๐๐]
[๐๐ ๐ข๐ฅ๐ข๐ญ๐ฒ ๐๐ฏ. ๐]
[๐๐ซ๐ฎ๐ญ๐ก ๐๐ฏ. ๐]
“Was your goal to corrupt me?”
It was an essence that was too blatantly biased towards demonic power. When he thought about the earl-rank chaos demon that must have been sacrificed to create this essence. . . these guys were really serious about it, if nothing else.
ใYou possess the ‘Eye of Horus’ and yet you maintain your sanity. Moreover, do you not possess the Blood Daemon or the Plague Grimoire?
That means you have the potential to become the greatest, the strongest archduke demon. If we could corrupt you and turn you into a demon, wouldn’t that be the greatest gain for us, who have suffered losses until now?ใ
At those words, Oswald checked his holy power level. His holy power level had risen significantly after the previous incident. His current holy power level was 60.
‘๐๐ข๐ฎ๐ฎ๐ช๐ต. . . ๐๐ฐ ๐ ๐ณ๐ฆ๐ข๐ญ๐ญ๐บ ๐ฉ๐ข๐ท๐ฆ ๐ฏ๐ฐ ๐ค๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ช๐ค๐ฆ ๐ฃ๐ถ๐ต ๐ต๐ฐ ๐ข๐ฃ๐ด๐ฐ๐ณ๐ฃ ๐ช๐ต?’
No matter how he thought about it, there was no way he could reach Alicia before that demon if he made a move right now. In that case, the only option left was to absorb the essence.
Even if his demonic power increased, he would still have about 20 levels of holy power left. . . There was a high chance he could return to normal.
The problem was the side effect that occurred when the demonic power level exceeded the holy power level. If the demonic power level exceeded the holy power level, demonization would progress, and in that case, his personality would be greatly affected. Should he say that he would become more violent?
‘๐๐ฆ๐ต’๐ด ๐ฉ๐ฐ๐ฑ๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐บ๐ด๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ’๐ด ๐ฑ๐ณ๐ฐ๐ต๐ฆ๐ค๐ต๐ช๐ฐ๐ฏ ๐ธ๐ช๐ญ๐ญ ๐จ๐ถ๐ข๐ณ๐ฅ ๐ฎ๐บ ๐ฎ๐ช๐ฏ๐ฅ.’
Of course, if he raised his holy power level again, the demonic power level would decrease, and he would return to normal. However. . . it would probably take quite a long time.
‘๐๐ข๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ๐ณ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ฏ ๐ต๐ฉ๐ข๐ต. . . ๐๐ถ๐ด๐ต ๐ญ๐ฐ๐ฐ๐ฌ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ ๐ข๐ต ๐ต๐ฉ๐ฆ ๐ด๐ต๐ข๐ต๐ด ๐’๐ฅ ๐ฃ๐ฆ ๐จ๐ข๐ช๐ฏ๐ช๐ฏ๐จ, ๐ช๐ต’๐ด ๐ฒ๐ถ๐ช๐ต๐ฆ ๐ต๐ฆ๐ฎ๐ฑ๐ต๐ช๐ฏ๐จ. . .’
This was how demon hunters fell to corruption. They could absorb without side effects through sanctification, but the power they gained was weak.
If they absorbed without purification, they could gain the full power, but they had to absorb at one-week intervals. That one week was the minimum amount of time needed to purify the demonic power that had entered their bodies through prayer.