063: The Unreasonable Monster

The cave entrance loomed before me, but the light that should have been there had been snuffed out.

I could feel a trace of mana leaking from the depths, but it was muffled, as if something were actively blocking my senses. Just like in the original game, there was no way to know what was happening inside without walking straight into the trap.

If I set foot inside, there would be no turning back.

The danger level was off the charts. If I didn't go in, Olynn—who was still very much a work-in-progress—was a dead man. Every second I stood here vibrating with indecision, his survival rate plummeted.

And yet, a part of me had fully intended to abandon him.

But my heart—or some nagging thing deep in my soul—refused to let me leave.

What the hell am I supposed to do?

God... damn it.

Suddenly, for some reason, Allen’s face flashed through my mind. If it were him... even if he knew the plot, that idiot would have charged in without a second thought.

"...I’m a total moron," I muttered.

Then, I stepped into the cave.

Midway through, I felt a ripple of distortion. It was a nauseating, jelly-like sensation, similar to passing through a Magic Gate. The moment I felt it, I knew I’d well and truly triggered the trap.

The cave wasn't actually that deep. The rock walls were jagged and craggy, appearing perfectly natural at first glance. However, a massive surge of mana was radiating from the back.

If it had been a simple mechanical trap, I could have handled it, but this was shaping up to be the absolute worst-case scenario. Still, levels existed for monsters and living creatures for a reason. There had to be monsters that were at least "better than that guy."

I wasn't optimistic enough to hope for the "weakest" possible encounter, but I prayed for anything even remotely manageable.

My prayers went unanswered. What appeared before me was the absolute worst high-rank monster I knew.

Its body was pitch black and humanoid, with ears that were sharp and elongated. It stood taller than I did. Rather than a monster, it was more fitting to call it a demon.

Its species was a Demon. They were creatures that lived for the joy of slaughtering humans, and their mana capacity was sheer nonsense. To make matters worse, its attribute was Darkness—the worst possible matchup for my own powers.

"ftgyfujmgegef?"

The Demon noticed me and shrieked. Unlike mindless monsters, these things possessed intelligence; it sounded like it was actually trying to speak some twisted language.

In the back of the cavern, a female student I’d seen a few times lay collapsed on the ground. I felt a surge of relief that it wasn't Lilith, but Olynn was already standing in front of the girl, trying to protect her.

"Weiss... I'm sorry. This is all my fault—"

"Shut up," I snapped. "We'll talk later."

I searched for an opening. I knew the first move was critical, but there was no telling what kind of underhanded tricks a demon would pull.

Olynn, still shielding the girl, let his mana swell to its limit. He aimed his palm at the Demon and let it rip. To my surprise, it was a massive mana cannon—not quite on Carta’s level, but still incredibly powerful.

But sadly, that attack didn't even reach the monster. It scattered and vanished into thin air before it could connect. Just like in the game, its Barrier was likely a passive ability.

"7hkowwgaaa!!!"

The demon pointed its index finger at us.

A thin needle of wicked, black mana shot from its fingertip. It was a concentrated bolt of darkness, traveling at a terrifying speed with enough force to punch through steel.

Olynn tried to throw up a basic Magic Shield, but that flimsy thing wouldn't stop a hit like this. I lunged forward to save him, drawing my Eternal Dual Sword. Using Time Lapse, I forcibly deconstructed the magic formula and shattered the Demon’s attack.

"Amazing..." Olynn breathed.

"Magic is useless against this thing. Don't fire recklessly," I warned.

"wtbohsafawwtt!"

Even if I managed to break its Barrier, its body was coated in Dark Magic, meaning any half-baked attack would just slide right off. Or rather, even if I did manage to land a hit... well...

This Demon was placed here for the sole purpose of murdering players. They were supposed to be native only to the Demon World. We players never found out how one ended up in the human world, but I'm sure some "unreasonable" circumstance had screwed it over, too.

There was no reasoning with it. The thing was clearly agitated.

Now, how do I handle this?

"This girl seems to be unconscious," Olynn reported. "She's alive, but I can't wake her up."

"She’s likely under a sleep spell. Do you have any summons left?"

"They’ve all been taken out. But I can still fight!"

"Fine. Just don't attack without thinking. Wait for my lead."

"...Understood."

This Demon was easily among the strongest class of monsters I had ever faced. Right now, it was still acting cocky, looking down on us. I had to exploit that arrogance and strike.

Beyond that... I just hoped to God this wasn't exactly like the original story.

—Blessing of Healing and Impulse of Destruction.

I slammed my hand onto the ground, inflicting every debuff in my arsenal on the Demon. All of those negative effects were then funneled back into me as buffs. Though the rush wasn't as intense as it was with the dragon, a torrent of sinister mana flooded my veins.

I could have designated Olynn and the girl as allies for the buff, but this brand of dark mana was so foreign and volatile that they probably wouldn't survive the transfer.

Without a moment’s delay, I activated Dark Eye and Flash and sprinted forward.

The Demon shrieked another string of unintelligible gibbererish and pointed its hand at me, firing a Dark Mana Cannon even more powerful than the last one. A normal person wouldn't have been able to block it, let alone see it coming.

But my attribute was Darkness, and I had Time Lapse to unravel his spells.

"That won't work on me!"

I gripped my Dual Sword tight, only to consciously relax my muscles a fraction of a second before the impact. It was the technique Olynn had shown me. To my shock, the mana flow was incredibly smooth.

The mana I’d drained from the Demon was converted, and a sinister aura began to dwell within my blade. By coating the edge with a thin film of light, my destructive power against darkness doubled.

"gyhagwjoaw!"

"I don't have a clue what you're saying!"

The Barrier tried to stop me, but I didn't care. I hacked right through it. The sound of shattering glass echoed through the cave as I cleaved into the Demon.

Black blood sprayed violently, drenching my clothes. Behind me, I heard Olynn let out a cry of joy. The Demon buckled, let out a pained shriek, and collapsed.

"You did it, Weiss!"

"Move! We’re leaving, now!" I barked, not giving him a second to celebrate.

Olynn looked startled but quickly scooped up the unconscious girl. The three of us scrambled toward the cave entrance, but—

"Wait, I can't get out... Is this a barrier!?"

"...Of course it is."

Just like the original story. It was the worst kind of trap. I’d had a hunch, but it seemed the Noblesse devs really were sadistic bastards. Once you entered an area like this, there was no escaping.

And I didn't have any "Continues" left.

I tried to scan the exit with Time Lapse, but all I got was a garbled mess of characters that looked like program error codes. Deconstructing the formula was impossible.

But there had to be a flaw somewhere. I just had to find it before—

"Weiss, behind you!"

"—Tch!"

A Dark Mana Cannon twice as powerful as the previous ones roared toward us from behind. I dodged at the very last second. The blast struck the cave wall with a deafening boom.

The wall, however, was indestructible. Not a single scratch remained. It was then I realized we couldn't even tunnel our way out; the cave was reinforced with a special kind of mana.

"ghjikuaguataww!!!"

"H-How... How is he still alive...?" Olynn was trembling.

The reason was simple.

"Because he's immortal."

The path forward wouldn't open until he was defeated. But no matter how many times we struck him down, he would just keep getting back up. The only intended way out of this event was [Death].

Back in the day, the player base had absolutely shredded this event in the forums. People screamed about how "unreasonable" it was to put a demon in a "shitty event" like this. I was one of them. I’d typed out my fair share of angry rants.

But as I looked at the monster, I thought back on everything that had happened so far.

Was it really... truly impossible to win?

I had cleared a scripted loss event. I had slain a dragon that was supposed to be a forced retreat. I had even won the Sword-Magic Cup.

Noblesse was an unreasonable, shitty game. But it was also the most fun I’d ever had.

If that were the case... there had to be a hidden win condition.

There was only one thing for me to do. I would just have to kill this bastard hundreds of times, thousands of times—however many times it took until I found the way out.

"Come on then, you immortal piece of shit. I'll kick you back into hell as many times as it takes."