The Game of the Greatest Black Mage

[Translator - Prøks]

[Proofreader - Prøks]

Chapter 80

A light flashed.

A shimmering teal light.

So beautiful that the two Black Orcs, as if entranced by the light, reached out their hands.

And then their hands disappeared.

“Kweeek?”

“Kweek?”

Their hands were gone.

Was it this light?

Before the two Black Orcs could even register,

The light touched their necks.

Slice——!

Thump, thud.

A single sound of something being severed.

And then two heads were cut off and fell.

They didn't even realize they had been cut, they died with puzzled expressions because it happened so fast.

“Wow.”

The death beast, Barpur.

He had become incomparably stronger than before.

It was said that he couldn't adapt to the wraith body when he had no physical form.

It was true.

As Seonghyun briefly admired,

Barpur knelt on one knee and bowed his head.

-Thank you for calling me! Would you like me to clean this place up?

His subtly folksy tone was still the same, which was amusing.

His outer appearance had become incredibly imposing.

Seonghyun was about to nod to Barpur, but then, as if it would be quite fun, he reopened the Netherworld and summoned Balthar and Fiora as well.

Both of them, like Barpur, bowed their heads in a pose of obedience as soon as they were summoned and spoke.

-I have answered the Lord’s call.

-I, I also answered the Lord's call.

Balthar with his confident and authoritative tone, and Fiora with her timid tone.

With all three of them out,

Seonghyun was about to say something when something suddenly came to mind.

“Ah, right! What about the shapeshifter?”

Before the battle with Crescentra, he had kept the shapeshifter's cub in the Netherworld, just in case.

It would be a disaster if it got hurt.

He asked if it had woken up.

Fiora carefully presented the shapeshifter's cub, holding it in her hands as if offering a gift.

-It's, it’s here.

“Ah, it's safe.”

He felt a bit sorry for forgetting about it after sending it to the Netherworld.

Just in case, he poked it.

It still just wiggled its body.

It still wasn't waking up?

[The shapeshifter is unable to awaken due to an unknown cause.]

‘Unknown cause, huh.’

What could it be?

‘Hmm, well, dungeon first.’

There was no way to know for now.

Seonghyun put the shapeshifter back into his robe's front pocket.

At that moment, Fiora's eyes became slightly wistful, but Seonghyun assumed it was because they were of the same species and moved on.

The reason he summoned these three was simple.

He wanted to test the power of Barpur, who had been reborn as a death beast.

Currently, Fiora and Balthar were undoubtedly Seonghyun's strongest.

He needed to know how much more powerful Barpur was compared to them.

Judging solely by physical abilities, Barpur was no less than Balthar.

However, since their 'software' was different,

He was curious to see how it would turn out.

"The reason I summoned you three is to clear this dungeon, and I want to see who catches the most. You three are the strongest among the summons I have."

Everyone immediately understood Seonghyun's intention and gladly accepted.

He was worried they might feel offended, but

Thankfully, they didn’t.

Rather, they seemed to think this was a good opportunity.

All three had bright expressions.

-Hoho! Rank is always important. I shall follow the Lord's will.

-Chwoong!!! If the master wishes, simply command! We merely follow!

-O, okay! I'll, I'll do my best!

As all three accepted,

Seonghyun nodded as if to tell them to go.

As a signal, the three darted out as if disappearing simultaneously.

In terms of speed alone, the wraith Fiora was the fastest, followed by Balthar, and then Barpur, whose physical strength was superior to Balthar but who seemed unable to utilize it well.

As expected, the difference in 'software' couldn't be ignored.

What would the outcome be?

‘It might be an interesting competition.’

Seonghyun thought.

The labyrinth was vast, so Seonghyun thought he would have no problem flying around.

He gathered the blood swords into one and stood on them.

Everyone would be doing it fairly, but

He needed to see the competition.

Seonghyun followed them at a high speed.

Riding on over a hundred blood swords.

Whoooooo!

As he cut through the wind and followed,

The one in the lead was none other than Fiora.

Fiora rushed in with a shooting speed, transformed her arm into a thin, long sword, and swung it in one swift motion.

Five Black Orcs, in that instant, couldn't even react to Fiora's flashing arm and had their necks taken.

Slice——!

Thump! Thud!

However, not all Black Orcs were killed instantly.

Two of the five had their necks cleanly severed, spraying blood, but the other three were missed, with cuts to their arms or shoulders.

He had tried to cut them down in one go, but it was a bit disappointing.

As Fiora tried to transform her arm again to attack,

Balthar, who appeared out of nowhere, rushed in, his eyes glowing, and swung his blood-red greatsword.

Chwaaaak——!

Beyond mere cutting, the savage, toothed blood aura tore the Black Orcs apart.

The number was two as well.

They both rushed at the remaining one, not caring who got there first,

But in that instant, a light flashed, and Barpur appeared, holding the Black Orc’s head in one hand.

It was so fast that even the act of cutting was hard to see.

Fiora got two, Balthar got two, and Barpur got one, but Fiora and Balthar looked at Barpur with unusual expressions.

‘……Th, that was fast just now.’

‘Hmm, he certainly hasn't broken the limits of a death beast.’

They admired, feeling Seonghyun’s greatness once again.

Even as a death beast, Barpur had significantly lower combat power compared to them.

But he was making up for it with his superior physique.

It was impossible to predict how the match would unfold.

Seonghyun, who was watching from above, felt the same way.

‘I can't tell anymore?’

He thought Balthar would be dominant, but that wasn't the case.

Was it because he had transcended death?

Barpur's physique was far superior to Balthar's.

The Black Orcs were never the real enemies.

They were just numbers in a competition to see who could catch the most.

Therefore, everyone moved quickly without caring who went first.

The first to move was Fiora.

In terms of reaction speed, Fiora was the best.

Balthar followed closely behind.

But Barpur, who started late, caught up with both of them.

-I shall go first.

-Hue!?

-Heo.

Fiora made a bewildered sound in surprise, and Balthar was genuinely impressed.

Initially, it was because he couldn't adapt.

Now that he had somewhat adapted, he began to realize the performance of his body and move accordingly.

Balthar realized he couldn't fall behind either.

-Blood Feast.

Using the skill, he absorbed the blood of the Black Orcs everywhere, and a reddish aura bloomed all over his body.

Woo-oong!

Balthar's body, vibrating as it touched the surroundings, became even more powerful than before.

A skill he couldn't use during the Crescentra battle.

As Seonghyun's level rapidly increased and he could use it,

He used it to his heart's content.

Then, he became even faster than the wraith’s rapid speed, reaching a speed similar to Barpur.

As the two moved ahead, Fiora, thinking she couldn't fall behind either,

Put in more effort and increased her speed.

She increased her speed by drawing up the energy of the wraith, but…

By a hair's breadth, she was slightly slower than the other two.

Despite doing her best to take down the Black Orcs,

Speed was one thing, but precision inevitably suffered a little.

To keep up with their speed, she had to sacrifice something.

Seonghyun, who was watching this, couldn't help but wear a slightly disappointed expression.

‘Fiora is definitely a bit behind.’

In terms of sheer numbers, there wasn't a huge difference.

About three orcs?

However, despite having a slight lead with one orc initially, she was caught up, and the gap was widening little by little.

By the time they had cleared the dungeon, the gap had widened to five orcs.

Balthar had one more orc than Barpur, and Fiora had five fewer orcs than Balthar.

In other words, she was four orcs short of Barpur.

Even if Barpur had been reconstituted with a body that had accepted transcended death, it was enough to hurt his pride.

-Ye, you're, you're really amazing!

“……???”

Fiora was purely admiring and enjoying herself.

Moreover, she wasn't praising Barpur, but Seonghyun.

It was good that she didn't have inferiority or jealousy, but

Praise?

To him?

Seonghyun was a bit bewildered.

Why was she like this?

-If, if it weren't for the Lord, Barpur wouldn't be this strong! You're, you're amazing!

-That is a correct statement. Clearly, Barpur has transcended the species of death beast and obtained an incredible physique. Though his tone is a little grating.

-Chwoong! I just am greatful! Ahem ahem!

Though he tries to speak carefully in response to Balthar's criticism,

He couldn't hide his folksiness.

It seemed that Balthar had been teaching him after noticing Barpur's tone had been slightly corrected recently.

In any case,

The match was over.

As expected, Balthar was first, followed by Barpur, and lastly…

‘But why isn't Fiora a possible subject for transcendence?’

That part was a bit strange.

Was there a specific condition?

But Anemor was capable of transcendence.

If we consider Barpur as a case where it was possible together because he had a physical body.

Anemor wasn't even that.

‘Soul?’

It seemed that Karisha's body was insufficient to hold Anemor.

Considering that it was possible even though it hadn't been long since the undead was made.

Anemor and Karisha had the same body, but Anemor was using it better.

Then why didn't Fiora show up?

Fiora uses the body of the wraith Barpur better than Barpur himself.

Yet, the message didn't appear.

‘Isn't it a matter of whether you can use the body to its limit?’

He couldn't understand.

[TL/N: It's Pretty Obvious to be fair but I guess he is a new player so he couldn’t understand]

Perhaps the system didn't fully understand this mechanism either?

As Seonghyun was deep in thought,

He saw Balthar nudging Fiora slightly, as if pressing her.

He poked Fiora in the side.

“???”

What were they doing?

As Seonghyun looked at them, wondering what was going on,

Fiora was startled and stammered.

-Hueee.

-Tell him, Fiora.

-It's... right. You have to tell him to... know. Ahem ahem.

Feeling something was off about their conversation, Seonghyun tilted his head.

Fiora gathered a bit of courage and stepped forward.

She seemed to have something to say.

Seonghyun looked at Fiora, as if to say it was okay.

Fiora flinched and bowed deeply.

Why was she stalling like that?

“It’s okay, just tell me, Fiora.”

-Th, th, th-this, my body… is, is another friend using… it???

“……???”

What do you mean, Fiora?

As Seonghyun put numerous question marks on his face, unable to understand,

Fiora trembled and pointed to the shapeshifter in Seonghyun's robe's front pocket and spoke again.

-Th, this.

“Huh? No, way?”

-It is presumptuous to ask the Lord, but I, along with Fiora, am curious when you will grant her body, the shapeshifter, and I take the liberty of asking.

-Th, that’s right.

“??????”

Rather, Seonghyun took out the shapeshifter's cub with a questioning expression.

This was Fiora's body?

Come to think of it.

Her body was revived in the form of the last phoenix, wasn't it?

But Fiora's soul was wandering around.

Recalling his memories, Seonghyun remembered a similar case from the past and thought.

‘It's like Mr. Choi!’

There was a time when his father was injured and hospitalized.

At that time, Mr. Choi's soul, who was unconscious in the intensive care unit, used to wander around the hospital.

He was initially puzzled by it.

People close to death often experience astral projection.

Could it be that Fiora was in that state?

So the shapeshifter hadn't woken up!

“Ah! Sorry, Fiora! I thought it was your cub.”

-Hueeee!?

-Cough, cough, Lo, Lord, but, pfft, to call Fiora, who hasn't even gotten married yet, a mother.

-Th, that's right. Th, that Fiora senior...

“Ah, ah, sorry. Ahem, anyway, it’s Fiora's body, right?”

As Seonghyun quickly changed the subject, feeling embarrassed.

Anyway, everyone agreed, as if confirming it was correct.

As if he had just learned a secret, Seonghyun shook his head and used his ability.

Now that he knew, he could simply switch them.

With his power, Seonghyun pulled Fiora's soul out of the wraith body and immediately lodged it into the shapeshifter's body.

Then,

Woooooo-oong!

A mysterious and mystical light, appearing to be both deep blue and teal, emanated from the shapeshifter's body.

And as if the shapeshifter's body was about to break, cracks gradually appeared in it from the light.

Like something breaking out of an egg.

Eventually, the light shattered, and what was placed on Seonghyun’s hand began to grow larger than his hand.

Soon, breaking free from Seonghyun's hand, a small, fairy-like child appeared, resembling a slime material but with a human form, looking shy.

-Hehe, th, thank you.

As Fiora awoke, something like a note fell from her arms.

“What’s this…….”

As Seonghyun picked up the note,

Phrases appeared, making his eyes spin.

[The shapeshifter has awakened.]

[You have perfectly awakened the 『Overlord』's pet.]

[You have found a note that the shapeshifter cub was holding.]

[Checking conditions.]

[Clear The Fortress of the Past (Completed)]

[『Overlord』 2nd Class Advancement (Completed)]

[『Overlord』 Pet Release (Completed)]

[All conditions have been met.]

[You can check the note.]

[『Overlord』 Main Quest has begun.]

[Event scene is playing.]

“Huh? Main quest?”

There was a main quest?

Before Seonghyun could compose himself from his surprise,

The situation began to change rapidly.

The surrounding scenery all melted and disappeared.

Like the cutscene he had experienced before, it started playing.

And the scenery he saw was a familiar place to Seonghyun.

‘Helena’s Garden?’

It seemed to be after the incident where the black star appeared and isolated the space.

Dark storm clouds and traces of space isolation were visible around.

Similarly, Fiora's body had already turned to ashes and disappeared.

However, he could feel someone approaching in that state.

Tap, tap.

[Translator - Prøks]

[Proofreader - Prøks]