༺ Naru’s Friend, Molu! ༻
When I came to my senses, dawn was breaking in the distance.
Only then did I realize that the tiresome battle with those damn vampires was over.
“It’s finally over. Is everyone okay?”
I asked the people around me.
We had just spent the night getting surrounded and attacked by sharp-fanged women in only their underwear.
Despite experiencing a night that was hellish yet somehow worth being etched into someone’s memory, no one seemed to be injured.
“Everyone looks fine.”
“Are you blind?”
As I nodded in agreement with myself, Brigitte frowned.
“What do you mean ‘look fine’?”
Brigitte’s stomach and chest had been pierced by the leader of the vampires, Sheherazade.
It would have been a fatal wound for anyone else, but apart from her torn clothes, she seemed unharmed.
Her face was slightly bruised, but she didn’t seem injured.
“Are you all healed? Should I touch you to make sure?”
I reached out toward Brigitte’s exposed stomach through the torn fabric. But she slapped my hand away, shouting, “I don’t need you to!”
Clearly, she seemed healthy enough to not require any further examination.
However, Cariote seemed puzzled by the situation.
“I once met the saint of the Heavenly Father Yahbach. Her healing powers truly belonged in the realm of miracles, she could even regrow severed limbs. But regenerating a destroyed heart is on a completely different level.”
Cariote seemed to have encountered a saint before.
That’s why she noticed that Brigitte’s regeneration was abnormal.
“Brigitte’s regeneration is not just a matter of healing wounds. It’s definitely not ordinary magic. It must be in the realm of forbidden arts. Brigitte, your existence is too dangerous.”
Cariote was perceptive.
It seemed like she sensed the tension and danger surrounding Brigitte.
“I have put countless renegade mages from the ‘Ancient City’ to rest. They all had delved into forbidden arts and lost their minds easily. Brigitte, you are similar to them.”
“I know. I didn’t choose to be like this. Can you please put down that sword? Even if I don’t die, it still hurts when I get stabbed.”
Swoosh-
Brigitte pushed away the tip of Cariote’s sword with her finger.
In response, Cariote smoothly sheathed her saber and asked.
“Then explain it to me in a way that I can understand.”
Cariote was demanding an explanation.
Her attitude seemed somewhat oppressive, but from Cariote’s perspective, who had been maintaining order while controlling demons, Brigitte could be seen as a ticking time bomb.
I, on the other hand, was just keeping quiet, as I somewhat understood the situation.
Brigitte should be the one to answer this.
Brigitte let out a sigh.
Then, calmly, she opened her lips.
“Even if I try to hide it, You’ll probably be able to figure it out with your skills anyway, Cariote, it would be bothersome if things got complicated, so I’ll just tell you. Do you know about the Three Calamities?”
“Are you referring to the three demons of Pandemonium?”
“Yes, those Three Calamities. It’s a curse left by Immortal Lich Valdes. Valdes was an immortal, so there was no way to kill him. It was because he was suffering from the curse of devastation.”
“The curse of devastation…”
“To defeat that guy, we needed to break the curse. In the end, the best way we had was for me to inherit the curse. There were various circumstances around that decision, but that’s the gist of it.”
We fought mercilessly for three days and nights and achieved a brutal victory in the “Devastation Valdes War.”
To summarize things in a quick and concise way, Brigitte was truly clever.
“The curse of devastation. Brigitte, are you saying that you became immortal because of the curse?”
“Yes.”
Immortal.
Honestly, I thought it was incredible.
Unfortunately, the curse was nothing like immortality, as it was steadily taking away Brigitte’s youth.
“I may just be unable to die, but I am still aging. Even if I become a grandmother someday and my body rots away, leaving only bones, I will not be able to die.”
“The soul trapped in an undying body will only deteriorate and corrupt. Is it possible for you to turn into Immortal Lich Valdes or rather Immortal Lich Brigitte and slaughter people?”
“I don’t know about that. But I’m working hard to prevent that from happening. That’s why I came to the city of Freesia, the hub of magical technology. It’s also why I’m searching for the imp.”
Indeed.
I simply assumed that Brigitte had taken up a professorship as a fallback option. But it seemed that she had her own deep contemplations and thoughts.
Soon, Cariote looked at me.
“Judas, I heard that you also received a curse after killing the Demon King. And according to rumors, the warrior in your party suffered fatal injuries in battles against The Penitent Swordsman, Alcatraz.”
“That’s right.”
“You were all praised as heroes, but in reality, you were just retired soldiers covered in wounds. The only one who didn’t receive any wounds or curses was the monk Enkidus.”
Cariote sighed lightly as if feeling very bitter.
However, contrary to Cariote’s thoughts, Enkidus also received a powerful curse while subduing the demon king.
I spoke.
“That guy’s hair doesn’t grow anymore.”
“What?”
“He’s permanently bald now.”
“He received such a curse… But I heard that the monks of the Sect of the Ascending Sun intentionally shave their heads. So, it doesn’t seem like a severe curse.”
“No, there’s a difference between choosing to shave and not being able to grow hair at all.”
Enkidus had also received a powerful curse.
But perhaps Cariote didn’t understand the cruelty of male hormones, as she just tilted her head and dismissed what I had said as nonsense.
Thunk-
At that moment, something lightly landed on the rooftop of Night Garden.
It was a bald guy.
“Hey, what were you doing, baldy? It’s all over already.”
I reproachfully glared at Enkidus after looking at the scattered remains of the vampires strewn on the floor.
At that moment, Naru, who was being carried on his back, raised both hands in excitement.
“Uncle Baldy found Naru!”
“Really?”
So Enkidus was protecting Naru.
He had the most important role indeed.
“I didn’t say anything then. Tell me what happened.”
“Naru Style! Super Chatter!”
Chatter, Chatter-
I listened to a brief explanation as to what Enkidus and Naru had been doing.
It seemed that he had clashed with a female thief who was after the treasures of Sheherazade.
Enkidus nodded as he listened to our story.
“So that’s what happened. Well then, let me examine the injured Brigitte for a moment.”
Swoosh-
Enkidus placed his index finger on Brigitte’s wrist.
About 5 seconds passed.
“Brigitte, your weight has increased since the last time I checked your pulse.”
“D-Don’t say things like that!”
“Other than the weight, your pulse, heartbeat, and the flow of karma and mana in your body are all perfectly normal. There is no need for any further examination.”
“Of course it is.”
Brigitte clicked her tongue.
The baldy turned his gaze away from Brigitte and looked at me.
“Judas, it seems that the seal on you is loosening. It appears that your power has increased once again after this battle….”
Enkidus’ words basically meant, “Judas, you just gained experience and are close to leveling up after this fight, right?”
He was right.
I could feel that I was just a step away from leveling up.
Upon hearing that, Cariote exclaimed in admiration.
“Amazing. It’s not easy for those who have surpassed the Platinum Realm to increase their level. The higher the level, the harder it is to achieve enlightenment. Judas, can you become even stronger?”
As Cariote said, on the Pangaea continent, as the level increases, it becomes increasingly difficult to level up.
I heard that there are even people who can never level up again after reaching level 40, which can only be achieved by getting past the realm.
However, I was able to raise my karma even higher by facing off against Alubaba’s Al Sahad, and today’s vampires from Sheherazade.
Cariote then added.
“Isn’t that something to be happy about? If you reach level 50, you could transcend and become a Demiurge like Yahbach, who ascended to divinity from mortality. But… everyone’s looking gloomy for some reason?”
Cariote cocked her head as if she couldn’t understand.
Brigitte explained to her.
“It’s because of the curse that Judas is suffering from. Judas shouldn’t raise his level and status anymore. It’s difficult to explain in detail… Judas, it would be good to examine your karma as soon as day breaks.”
“I also think so.”
I nodded.
* * *
“Even though a terrible incident had occurred, not a single line was written about it in the newspaper. In the end, we couldn’t even find out where the heiress of the Ragdoll family, Leone, had disappeared to. The treasures were all stolen too. We gained nothing.”
Brigitte clicked her tongue as she looked at the morning newspaper.
It was because nothing about the commotion at 61st Street in the early morning was written in the Prisia newspaper.
It was a night where many people were torn apart and massacred, but 61st Street was not officially within Freesia’s administrative area.
Most of the people staying there were illegal criminals.
That’s why it felt like they were trying to bury the incident.
Of course.
That’s just my speculation.
I don’t know the details, nor do I want to know.
What I’m curious about right now is this.
「Karma Examination Form」
I took out a piece of paper from the black envelope.
It was a pure white paper.
This is an item called a Karma Examination Form.
An item that costs a million René. It was Brigitte that lent me the money, by the way. 1New currency that gets explained later
To put it simply, The effect of this form is to reveal the karma inherent in the body of the person who shed blood on the form.
Swoosh-
I slightly cut my finger with a dagger and let the blood flow onto the paper. As soon as the blood touched the paper, letters began to appear.
Level: 48 → 49
Strength: 14
Agility: 20
Endurance: 14 → 15
Karma Orientation: Chaos
The last time I checked, I was at level 48.
By the way, the average level of people on the Pangaea continent is 5 for adults.
“Wow, holy shh….”
The numbers that appeared on the examination form showed level 49.
My vision became dizzy at the results.
“This is big trouble. I’m at level 49.”
The situation was such that I only had one step left until level 50.
As I was becoming increasingly flustered, Brigitte frowned.
“We told you not to participate in the operation, and now, Enkkidus’ pulse-reading technique is no longer useful. Even if the others don’t know, aren’t you aware of what will happen if you reach level 50?”
“….”
Instead of answering, I glanced at a corner of Brigitte’s laboratory.
There, Naru was crouched down, having a conversation with her own shadow.
“Do you want to eat strawberries? Brigitte bought a lot of strawberries for us this morning!”
“….”
Wait a minute.
Why is Naru talking to her own shadow?
Is it an after-effect of the consecutive shocking events that she has experienced lately?
I cautiously approached Naru.
But now that I look at her, I noticed that there were two black pupils in what I thought was her shadow.
“Oh, holy shh. What is this? Naru, there are pupils in your shadow!”
“Right! This cat became Naru’s familiar yesterday! Look at this.”
Swoosh-
Naru took out something that looked like a bundle of black fur from her shadow.
It was literally a bundle of black fur.
It had nothing but black pupils, without a mouth or legs.
━Kong… Miaaao.
“Wait, this is a cat? Didn’t it just bark now?”
It was a very suspicious entity.
Naru shouted as she pulled the bundle of fur like a teddy bear.
“He was trapped in a box that was tightly sealed with a strong lock! Actually, even Naru doesn’t know what this is. That’s why it doesn’t have a name… no, it’s Molu!”
“….”
The day after the vampires went on a rampage.
An unidentified familiar appeared next to Naru.
Naru and Molu, 5* on NU or receive their wrath!
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