Chapter 1266

< Episode 1266 > 1266. Dark Moon

Kooong! Kung…

A presence towering over ten times the size of an adult male approaches from beyond the wooden fence. With every step the monster takes, a tremendous sound echoes through the ground.

It’s a corrupted being based on an ogre. Its skin is a dirty orange color, and its right arm is excessively oversized. Upon closer inspection, you can see something like iron rebar embedded in the arm.

A Grade 4 Contaminated Being.

This was the thing I had to exterminate.

“Always disgusting, no matter how many times I see them.”

Max grumbled beside me.

“There’s no need for you to be standing next to me. Stay with the villagers at the town hall and wait.”

“Don’t misunderstand. It’s not that I don’t trust you. I just want to see this damn thing die. I swear I won’t get in your way, so please don’t tell me to leave.”

Dealing with his nagging was annoying, so I decided to let it slide. As long as he didn’t interfere with me, I didn’t care.

I focused my gaze back on the Grade 4 Contaminated Being.

Contaminated Beings are creatures that have undergone mutation due to the influence of waste and pollution combined with the effects of Dark Moon.

The most notable feature of contaminated beings is that they don’t necessarily have to be biological entities. There are cases where corpses, waste, or scrap metal fuse together to become one.

Their intelligence is almost nonexistent. Even small animals are smarter than these things. You can think of their intelligence level as being similar to zombies.

“What made this Grade 4 appear?”

“It showed up three days ago. We weren’t prepared… Two villagers got eaten by it. Then, just to show off, it pooped right in front of the village at dawn! And guess what? My drinking buddy was mixed in with that crap!”

I didn’t care about that. I asked another question.

“How have you been dealing with it since then?”

“Well… it’s incredibly strong but slow and stupid. I lured it around on a bike. It doesn’t go beyond the village area, so I had to drive it in circles all night. When the sun rises, it burrows underground.”

“Didn’t you try to kill it directly?”

“Of course we did! Bullets and even bombs didn’t work. We had no choice but to wait for someone else’s help.”

“So it has incredible durability. Got it.”

I rode my bike toward the contaminated being. Max followed behind me.

“What’s your plan?”

“For now… let’s try burning it.”

[Fireball]

A Flame Sp streaks across the night sky, leaving a crimson trail before striking the contaminated being. The fireball explodes upon impact with its massive body.

Fiery red flames engulf the contaminated being.

But it doesn’t scream despite being on fire—it can’t even feel pain.

Narrowing my eyes, I examined its condition. The flames are burning, but they’re not damaging its body at all.

The night wind blows, and the flames gradually weaken until they disappear completely.

‘Not resistant to fire or magic… it’s just that its material isn’t combustible.’


“It’s not.”

[Rush of Water]

A massive amount of water appeared beneath my feet and surged toward the contaminated being, soaking it thoroughly.

[Ice Spear]

The ice spear struck true in the contaminated being’s chest. A burst of cold spread, engulfing its body.

Ching!

In an instant, the contaminated being froze solid.

Without hesitation, it took a step forward, shattering the ice into pieces that scattered everywhere. Fire doesn’t work, and neither does ice.

“Is there no stronger magic? I’m talking about a spell powerful enough to obliterate this thing in one shot!”

“Shut up. Stop rushing me.”

Using telekinesis, I pulled a pebble rolling on the ground toward me.

[Material Conversion]

I turned the pebble into metal and inscribed a blue magic circle. After adjusting the angle, I completed the activation of the spell.

[Railgun]

With a thunderous roar, the railgun fired. The projectile, far exceeding the speed of sound, pierced through the contaminated being’s abdomen, leaving a massive hole.

“Oh, ohhhh!”

Max gasped in awe at the significant hit.

On the other hand, I glared at the contaminated being with a stern face.

“This is troublesome.”

“Why? Isn’t that thing as good as done?”

“It hasn’t fallen. And take a closer look at the wound.”

“It’s… recovering?! What nonsense…”

The gaping hole in the contaminated being’s abdomen was rapidly healing. In about three minutes, it would be fully restored without a trace.

“Is there no stronger magic?!”

“There isn’t.”

“…Are we screwed?”

Leaving Max standing there dumbfounded, I rode my bike closer to the contaminated being. As I approached, I could smell the putrid stench emanating from it.

Ku-Ku-Ku- The contaminated being advanced toward me.

‘This thing definitely has super regeneration.’

It’s one of the traits of contaminated beings from the original game. The proper strategy involves using skills or items that reduce regeneration.

If those aren’t available, there’s only one solution.

‘Overkill. Overwhelming firepower to annihilate it before it can regenerate.’

The railgun worked. That alone should suffice.

Three pebbles lying on the ground shot up into the air.

[Material Conversion]

The pebbles transformed into bullets. I then completed three magic circles in succession.

[Railgun]

Three railguns fired simultaneously.

The dark space flashed brightly, and the aftermath swept across the ground. At the same time, the contaminated being’s body shattered and fell heavily to the earth.

“Whoa. Incredible. So this is the magic of a 5th-class magician! I’ll make sure the agreed 5 million credits are transferred to your account!”

As Max blabbered on, I rummaged through the contaminated being’s corpse with my elemental sword.

“…Do you have some kind of hobby involving playing with corpses?”

“I see traces of dark magic.”

“…What do you mean?”

“Look here. There are traces of a dark magic circle inside the internal organs.”

“To me, they just look like black spots…”

“You lack perception. Look at these innards. The dark magic formula has been broken down and inscribed onto each organ. They’re designed to complete the dark magic circle when combined.”

“Even if you explain it like that, I’m not a magician, so I don’t understand. However, I get that a dark magician is involved in this. What effect does the dark magic circle have?”

“I don’t know.”

Max stared at me with an expression of disbelief.

I confidently told him,

“The internal organs are severely damaged. A dark magic circle needs to be intact for me to interpret it. All we can do now is speculate that there was a dark magic circle.”

Even I can’t determine what kind of dark magic circle it was based solely on its traces.

“Damn. Are you saying a dark magician is targeting us? We should report this to the council and hope reinforcements arrive quickly…”

“My interest is piqued. I’ll track down the dark magician.”

The dark magician must have artificially created the contaminated being. Given how it was carelessly released, they were likely gathering research materials. I need to find the dark magician’s research data and…


I’ve developed an interest in black magic.

And this is also a chance to kill a black magician and clean up the Dark Hole. With such a bonus right in front of me, there’s no way I can just pass it by.

“Do you know where the black magician is?”

“You didn’t say so yourself? The contaminant comes from the ground and returns to the ground. The black magician must have set up a workshop underground.”

“Isn’t that dangerous?”

“It will be dangerous.”

I put my hands into my jacket pocket. I could feel the Overload Ampoule. I intended to use the Overload Ampoule in case of an emergency.

“Still, I’m going.”

“…Why? Why provoke danger unnecessarily?”

“I’m not provoking danger; I’m seizing an opportunity.”

I was quite confident.

If the black magician is above level 5, there’s no reason for him to set up a workshop here. It’s highly possible that he couldn’t handle the Ogre contaminant, so he sent it outside.

“You should return to the village.”

“I will. Following you any further would only hold you back… I’ll go back and protect the villagers. And… thank you.”

“You don’t need to thank me. I merely move in the direction that benefits me.”

“Still, thank you. I just wanted to express my gratitude.”

Max rode his bike back to the village.

I knelt on one knee on the ground and placed my palm on the ground to cast a spell.

[Detection]

The waves of mana spread out like ultrasound in all directions. Just as I felt nothing, I sensed the existence of an underground space at the far west end. I moved immediately. I rode my bike westward.

[Detection]

It was clearly felt. There was a space underground. I tried to find the black magician’s location too… but a barrier prevented me from accurately pinpointing it.

[Dig Out]

The ground caved in. After using the Dig Out magic three more times, I managed to enter the underground space.

The underground space was dark and quiet.

[Light]

I created a sphere of light above my head and walked forward. Of course, I didn’t forget to use the detection magic.

Being cautious while advancing, I suddenly stopped. An invisible wall blocked my steps right in front of me.

‘A barrier. The barrier itself isn’t high-level. At best, it’s level 3.’

I carefully touched the barrier with my hand, trickling mana while deciphering the barrier’s spell formula.

‘This is easy. If I properly unravel the twisted spell formula…’

Ziiing.

The barrier split open. I entered inside the barrier.

There were traces of people in the corridor, which had been empty until now. Footprints of people, trash that seemed to have been discarded by humans, etc.

‘He probably noticed that I intruded. He’ll attack me as soon as he sees me, so I’ll block it with a barrier and… dominate the space with Electric Field…’

While imagining the battle with the black magician, I smelled blood. It wasn’t fresh. There was a smell of decay mixed in. It must have been at least three days old.

I hurried my steps. After accumulating combat experience with monsters and humans, I can somewhat distinguish between the smell of monster blood and human blood. And the blood smell I’m sensing now is human.

A pupil appeared.

Judging from the books and experimental tools scattered everywhere, this seems to be the center of the black magician’s workshop.

I found the black magician. He was dead on the lab table. His abdomen was completely hollowed out. A monster sat atop his corpse. It had bat wings, a monkey body, and a goat head.

It’s not a monster.

It was too alien to be called a monster. It was something else.

Upon seeing me, the creature turned its goat head 180 degrees.

“Human? What is this? I sense familiarity. Are you a contractor?”

At those words, I instinctively understood its identity and let out a faint sigh.

“Devil Viole. And you?”

“A devil has no name to tell you.”

“Yeah. How about contracting with me?”