I got into school for nothing - 174
I got into school for nothing (174)
Lesson 34. Free Servitude - 9
From the moment the beast-kin were collectively buried, its appearance was instantaneous. Ban Yuwon must have inadvertently dropped a chieftain, a Constellation's contractor, into the sinkhole. The rampant mana seemed to completely devour that of the other beast-kin who had fallen into the sinkhole, then rapidly swelled in size, bursting forth from the infernal pit to stand upon the earth. He hadn't expected it to turn out this way.
"Is this also a Gu Du ritual?"
—No, it was simply easier to make sacrifices since you gathered them all in one place.
The voice that answered Ban Yuwon was surprisingly calm and composed. He raised his head, meeting the gaze of the beast, over a hundred meters tall, that loomed high above him. There was no longer any trace of the beast-kin who had become sacrifices. The aura emanating from its entire body, the unique mana and soul wavelength of a Constellation... it was similar to the Constellation's incarnated forms he had experienced in the Tower before. The only difference was that previously, Constellations had caused disturbances by consuming the Tower's occupancy rate, whereas this time, a Constellation had purely offered its contractor and other victims as sacrifices to achieve a larger-scale incarnation.
"This thing must be at least ten times bigger than Abel."
Its form seemed to be a composite of a dragon, a turtle, a crocodile, and a hippopotamus. Its back was covered in a tightly adhering, hard carapace, while the rest of its body was densely armored with sharp, keenly shining scales. Its head was diamond-shaped like a lizard's. When it opened its massive jaw, jagged, saw-like teeth gleamed menacingly like a crocodile's. Its four legs stood firmly planted on the ground, looking so incredibly sturdy that it seemed no sword could properly pierce them. It was a monster. Breaking down an iron wall would likely be an easier task.
—Yes, you are the brat who brazenly stole my bride.
He had initially thought the Constellation coveted Rucell's ability and wanted her as a contractor, but to think it was a "bride"! Hadn't it said it had implanted the Heart Furnace within her even before she was born? There's a limit to being a lolicon!
"Excuse me, but, Professor, you're quite repulsive."
—Does a mere human dare to interfere with a Constellation's will?
Its two eyes, vertically slit like a snake's, glared sharply at Ban Yuwon. Without even releasing mana, a terrifying pressure instantly pressed down on his shoulders. What was needed in such a moment were the concepts of Resistance and Solidity. Ban Yuwon recalled the time the Chancellor had bestowed upon him the concept of Solidity and activated both concepts to their maximum extent. His elevated status, the concept of soul at the core of his being, supported him, allowing him to stand firm and proud even before the Constellation's incarnated form.
—You are no ordinary human. Even if this isn't my true body, how can you withstand my Intimidation?
"Intimidation, indeed. I understand."
Giwon Sword itself was an incredibly powerful martial art, and also an excellent growth-oriented one. In this moment, Ban Yuwon had accepted the 'Intimidation' bestowed by a transcendent being head-on, resisted it, and learned simultaneously. Thus, even without acquiring Intimidation as a fixed concept, he would henceforth easily be able to suppress beings of lower status than himself. Well—if he killed this incarnated form, he would acquire Intimidation anyway, making that unnecessary.
—You're holding up well. Against these guys, if you're underestimated, it's over. They're more conceptual beings than they appear; depending on your mindset, they can become easier or harder to deal with.
Perhaps worried about Ban Yuwon directly facing a Constellation, Cellon channeled the mana residing within the staff to Ban Yuwon, boosting his morale as she spoke.
"Thanks for the advice."
—It's just bluffing, it can't even summon its true body anyway. An incarnation can never be complete, and that goes for this one too. It has many limitations. You just need to hold out until you can summon Abel.
[I'm totally juiced, Master! I'll try to cut down the time as much as possible... so, about 20 more minutes!]
Even Lilyth, who had retreated into the inventory to charge diligently, spoke in a spirited voice. To "be juiced" meant Ban Yuwon was consuming the talismans, blood wine, or elixirs of life that he usually stored mana in. While it was a blessing that the charging time could be drastically reduced thanks to that, 20 minutes was still too ambiguous a timeframe.
"That much is fine, I suppose."
But Ban Yuwon smiled, not betraying such emotions. How could he always expect easy battles? If he survived this, he would certainly be able to evolve Hyunsingong. For that, he could accept death once or twice.
—It seems you wish to buy time, but I wonder if that will truly be to your benefit.
"Well, what do you mean?"
—My collaborator has begun to move. I only need my bride, so I decided to concede that monster wench to him.
He realized who the collaborator was and who the monster wench referred to without needing to hear it explicitly. But Ban Yuwon didn't respond. Anneri Dedota was with Dokgo Yeon, wasn't she? If it were her, she would surely be able to protect Dokgo Yeon, even against Lyu Cheolmyeong. He only needed to focus on the enemy in front of him.
—Then, I shall slowly kill you now. I can no longer bear to watch the chains extending from you restrain my bride.
The monster stepped forward. Immediately after, Abyss, still moving underground, created a massive sinkhole at that very spot. Yet, the moment the monster set its foot down, earth surprisingly rose again from the ground, creating a solid foothold. From the ground sinking to it erupting upwards again, it was so natural that Ban Yuwon couldn't help but laugh, even though it wasn't the time for it.
—I am the ruler of all wild beasts. The earth would never betray me.
"But you'll consume energy each time you do that, won't you?" Ban Yuwon scoffed in response, then kicked off the ground. He had judged it dangerous to remain rooted to the earth if the monster wielded earth-related magic, so he bestowed upon himself the concepts of flight and levitation. The Constellation's aura, filling the entire area, suppressed him from all sides, but it couldn't stop Ban Yuwon's ascent, protected as he was by barriers of Resistance and Solidity.
—A human without wings, mimicking a winged beast.
"Is that all?"
Immediately after, rock spears that had sharply shot up from the ground lost their target and crumbled down again. Rock spears, dozens of meters high, sporadically erupting from the earth like surging waves, were chillingly formidable, but as long as he could read their movements with Giwon Sword, he wouldn't fall victim to such blind attacks.
"Where is its weakness?"
In truth, merely keeping its gargantuan body within the range of Giwon Sword was an immense burden. However, this was no time to leisurely analyze the monster. The second wave of attacks began swiftly. Purple-tinged scales burst forth from its entire body like bullets! Calling them "scales" was a generous word; due to the monster's colossal size, each individual scale was larger than Ban Yuwon himself and honed to a razor-sharp edge, making it feel like a deluge of executioner's blades...
"I'll enjoy this meal!"
—...!
The truth that physical projectiles held no sway over Ban Yuwon was just as valid here. No matter how terrifying the power contained within them, as long as the physical projectile was completely detached from the attacker, its ownership disappeared, allowing him to conceptualize it at will. To prevent this, one would have to throw it like a yoyo, attached by a string to one's fingertip, or protect it with an Authority of the same type as Ban Yuwon's, but naturally, the Constellation fighting him would have no way of knowing this.
[You have gained Dragon Scales 100, Heart Poison 100.]
A satisfied smile played on Ban Yuwon's lips as he had, by then, conceptualized and absorbed all the scales shot from the monster.
"Dragon Scales seems like a total windfall... but what's Heart Poison?"
—It's a curse. A curse that erodes the mind, so it's the worst kind.
Since coming to this planet, there had been quite a few incidents involving curses. Ban Yuwon, who had been thinking indifferently, suddenly realized something.
"Could Rucell's Heart Furnace also be something similar?"
—You realized that quickly. Be careful; even though it appears to be entirely a physical combatant, it seems adept at curses.
"...It certainly seems so. Perhaps it was even involved in the Gu Du ritual earlier."
The change was instantaneous. By then, a purple mist had already begun to fill the air. It completely enveloped an area hundreds of meters around the monster, and if it weren't for his All-Poison Eye, he wouldn't have been able to maintain proper visibility. Its composition, of course, was a mixture of Heart Poison and various other curses and toxins... The crucial point was that, unlike the scales, he couldn't conceptualize and absorb it.
—It's already too late.
The Constellation declared in a satisfied voice.
—You are already within the sphere of influence of my Authority and can never escape.
"So, the two previous attacks were merely feints to deploy your Authority without me noticing?"
—Correct. I tested you, observing if you would predict and respond to the target's movements, but... as expected, you are still incomplete.
The mist clinging to Ban Yuwon's entire body physically and magically squeezed him, tormenting him. Thanks to the concepts of Resistance and Solidity, he could prevent it from infiltrating his body, but it was still quite tormenting. However, it was a misconception that he hadn't noticed the monster's trickery even with Giwon Sword. After all, Ban Yuwon had no intention of retreating.
"If I escape from here, this monster bastard will charge into the Wolf Fang Tribe Village."
If possible, he didn't want the monster and Rucell to meet. It was glaringly obvious that this damned concept of Heart Poison would have a negative impact on Rucell. Buying 20 minutes to summon Abel was important, but stopping the monster here from harming Rucell was even more critical.
"Huu."
Ban Yuwon let out a short sigh, touching the earring in his ear. It was a single-use protective shield Yumina had prepared for their safety, just like during the last special activity. Until it broke, he was still fine. This irritating cursed mist was also gradually becoming familiar.
"Detoxifying with the concept of Dissolution... won't work. Trying to dispel the mist itself with the concept of Clear Skies... still won't work, I guess. If it weren't for the Constellation's Authority, I might have been able to do something, but this is tricky."
—It's because this mist is being treated as part of that incarnated form. Unless you subdue the main body, there's no way to clear the mist.
"That damned bastard is too big."
Even now, he was mobilizing Giwon Sword to thoroughly analyze the monster's entire body, trying to find a weakness, but he was utterly unable to. However, if he remained still like this, the Heart Poison mist would gradually erode his mana, eventually erasing the protective shield. Even if he considered creating a breakthrough with Stormrain Sword, the Stormrain Sword would likewise be neutralized within this mist. It would be better for Ban Yuwon to charge alone, wielding the Executioner's Longsword.
—Whirrrr
Even the magic bullet fired by Tikke's Sevenfold Magic Cannon, concentrated with its full power, couldn't even scratch the monster's carapace and vanished.
—Whirr, click.
"It's alright, Tikke."
The drone trembled its aperture as if ashamed, but for now, just keeping that monster fully in its lens was enough.
—You're holding up quite well. But you still don't fully understand the status of a Constellation.
Crack! The earring finally shattered. Simultaneously, the pressure and pain intensified. As the mana that had been slowly dwindling began to rapidly deplete, Ban Yuwon licked the elixir of life he had been holding in his mouth, initiating his recovery. Until Abel's summoning... approximately 12 more minutes.
—You need to come down a bit more.
Thud!
The monster began to step forward again. This time, too, Abyss swiftly moved to create a sinkhole, but the monster, in exactly the same manner as before, made the earth surge up to create a foothold. Perhaps there was a special magical meaning embedded in its movements. With each step it took forward, the mist's density deepened, and the pressure on Ban Yuwon also doubled. It was to the extent he wondered if the Heavenly Demon's Stepping Technique from Murim novels would be like this... yet, precisely because of that, Ban Yuwon became even more determined.
"Alright, let's charge."
—I'll clear all the mist in an instant with Starlight Magic.
Cellon responded as if she had been waiting.
—And I'll enchant your sword. You've probably vaguely realized it, but Starlight Magic is also a magic that can oppose Constellations.
"Okay."
Eleven more minutes. If he could fight and endure against the monster for that long, the evolution of Hyunsingong would be a foregone conclusion. He felt a strange pleasure, even as he risked death against an enemy whose Authority didn't properly work against him. But just then, another beast additionally intruded upon the battlefield.
"Master!"
It was the appearance of Rucell, the bride the Constellation had so desperately sought.
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