Chương 43: It Can Talk?

Adolin watched as Edrin and the corrupted fought. Both were much stronger than he had expected. His experience from his old world was becoming a disadvantage in this one. The warriors here were far, far more monstrous. It all came down to the blessing. In his world, warriors trained their bodies to perfection, but perfection had limits. In this world, the blessing seemed to remove those limits entirely. Attribute points could strengthen the body far beyond what should have been possible.

And he suspected the blessing wasn't the only method. There were probably other ways to strengthen the body as well. In his old world, mages reigned supreme. Only a handful of fighters could reach the level of an archmage. Luc had been one of them. The strongest of them. He was capable of killing any archmage in the world. Even Adolin. But Luc had been the sole exception. History had seen a few others like him, but they were rare exceptions. In this world, it seemed to be the opposite.

Warriors stood above mages, not the other way around. At least among the higher ranks. A mage could still kill warriors from a distance, but at the upper tiers, that advantage seemed to disappear. He wasn't sure if that was entirely true. Mages had access to the same attribute points, after all. But the Mage class allocated most of its points into Intelligence, so it made sense that warriors dominated physically. He glanced behind him, toward the entrance they had used to enter the room.

The mist still clung to the barrier. They were lucky the dungeon barriers were stronger than the corruption. Otherwise, they would've been in serious trouble. Revel stood on the opposite side of the room. She had been exposed to the killing intent for too long and was in enormous pain. He had isolated the area around her so the killing intent wouldn't reach her, and froze her legs to stop her from doing something stupid. Like entering a fight that would kill her the moment she got close enough.

He would have to train her to resist the corruption. The corruption affected everyone similarly, but it wasn't that difficult to ignore. In her case, the unresolved emotions surrounding her brother's death, along with the resentment she carried toward the corruption, made it far more effective on her. He turned back to the battle. His blood boiled as he watched the clash. He hated fighting, but battles at this level were hard to look away from. Cough.

Edrin was covered in blood from multiple grievous wounds, but his opponent looked no better. The fight was so intense that neither of them spared the others a glance. If they could, they might have wondered how someone like him had managed to get this close to the battle. Everyone else in the room was frozen in place, unable to even lift their heads to see what was happening. Except William. Even though he struggled to move, he had already forced himself a dozen steps forward, trying to help his lord.

Adolin found that admirable. The good part was that the corrupted commander was fighting fairly. It hadn't used the corruption against Edrin yet, relying solely on its strength and skills instead. Everything depended on the trump cards Edrin still had left. And Adolin was certain there were quite a few. He didn't know what to do. There were two choices. Join the fight—his hands were already itching for it—or leave them to finish it themselves. He had faith that Edrin would be the one left standing.

So he chose a third option. Watch a little longer before deciding. It was also a good chance to analyze the corrupted one. He doubted he would learn enough from this particular specimen, but it didn't hurt to try. A corrupted mage would be the ideal subject to study. Even better if it used curses or spells similar to whatever had caused the Count's illness. The fight had moved beyond what normal eyes could follow. Every moment became a blur of clashing strikes.

If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it. Analyze. He spread his mana through the area surrounding the fight. [Analyze Complete.] [Corrupted One.] [Commander.] [Threat level: High.] The spell was becoming increasingly useless. At least the system's readings were. Or maybe it was his own application of it. He wasn't sure. Instead, he took control of the mana released by the spell itself.

The mana flooded the battlefield, analyzing the traces left behind by Edrin and the corrupted moments earlier. There were two different mana signatures. He identified Edrin's immediately and ignored it, focusing on the unfamiliar one instead. It was mana, but at the same time… not quite. Normally, mana changed its nature depending on the spell being cast, but it still remained mana at its core. This felt similar. Yet fundamentally different. This was the second time he had encountered a different kind of mana.

Though he wasn't entirely sure "mana" was the correct term for it. The gods of his old world used Divine Energy. Or Divine mana, depending on who you asked. The priests used it as well. The corrupted mana he had sensed before was still ordinary mana at its core, merely aligned toward corruption or something similar. That was why he called it corrupted mana. But the energy this corrupted one used was completely different. Its nature felt sharp. Or perhaps sharpness itself. Similar, yet fundamentally different.

Though the distinction changed little for his research. Maybe energy was the correct term. Corrupted energy. Still, nothing else he discovered helped him understand how to deal with it. The energy was used by warriors, mostly contained within the body, unlike the mana mages wielded. If the being used the same self-destruction technique, he might learn more. The core explosion from a being at this level would be far beyond what his current mana could contain.

And even if he somehow managed it, the resulting mist would be vastly stronger. Strong enough to kill them before they could do anything about it. If the corrupted even thought about it, he would have to kill it immediately. Eagle Eye. Slow. He cast the spells on his eyes, allowing him to see the battle more clearly and slow it down enough for his mind to follow. Edrin had a smile on his face as he defended against the corrupted commander. The corrupted commander was smiling too.

It wasn't his place to interfere while Edrin was clearly enjoying himself that much. The man was a battle maniac. Adolin stepped back, scratching his hand, and stopped beside William. William had managed a few more steps forward and was now looking at him. Adolin briefly considered easing the pressure on him, but dismissed the thought just as quickly. If William could move freely, he would immediately throw himself into the fight. The commander stomped the ground, creating a massive crater in the stone floor.

The shockwave that followed hurled Edrin backward. The wave reached Adolin a moment later, but the mana barrier around him dispersed it harmlessly. Edrin followed with arcs of sword intent. The commander dodged most of them effortlessly, letting one slice across his shoulder as he charged forward. Edrin met the charge head-on. Both moved faster than Adolin could follow, even with his enhanced vision. He was starting to get bored, but he still had to watch in case Edrin made a mistake and needed help.

Both of them were relying mostly on their skill as swordsmen, using abilities sparingly aside from movement techniques. Those, they used constantly. An arm suddenly wrapped around his shoulder. Adolin glanced to the side. William looked at him with pleading eyes.

"H-help him." Adolin shook his head.

"He doesn't want anyone's help." Sir William struggled for a few moments before dropping to one knee, his sword supporting his weight as he watched the battle unfold. He didn't say anything after that. It seemed he knew his lord well enough. He felt mana building inside Edrin and poured more mana into the spells enhancing his vision. The commander seemed to sense it as well, corrupted energy gathering inside him in response. Edrin vanished.

A blur exploded around the commander as dozens of clashes rang out in rapid succession. Then a black arm holding a blade fell to the ground. Followed by another. The fighting stopped. The two combatants stood a meter apart. The corrupted commander was missing its lower left arm and upper right arm. The commander laughed.

"You are a strong one, human." It can talk? Edrin smirked and raised his blade again. The commander glanced around the room.

"You've brought friends?" Edrin didn't even look at them.

"They aren't your concern." Adolin found the language more interesting than the conversation itself. The corrupted spoke the empire's language fluently, though he had no idea whether it was used outside the empire as well. The corrupted commander kept its gaze on him for a moment longer.

"Let's end this," Edrin said.

"I've already lost," the commander replied, glancing toward them before his eyes settled on Revel.

"So why not take one more with me?" He smiled and vanished. Fuck. Adolin poured mana into the spell. Blink. He appeared in front of Revel— A blade pierced through him. The dull, throbbing pain spread across his body as he let out a small groan.