Volume 14 Chapter 4.5: Chapter 4 Part 5

Avaritia and Luxuria . While the two devils began to fight, Hilamee couldn't hide her surprise at the information received from Schnee .

Some of the students had been charmed by the devil and were now being used as hostages .

"I have to do something..."

Hilamee felt she had to act quickly, however, nothing useful came to mind . [Analyze] could show if someone was affected by status ailments, but it wouldn't show anything abnormal if the mind control was performed via skills that used drugs or words .

Just then, some students approached Hilamee .

"Headmistress, there is something we need to tell you . "

"It's very important!"

The students were among the top fighters of the institute, the Elf Lecus and the Dragnil Myu . Gian was behind them too . They had probably been training when they evacuated, as they wore their battle gear .

"This is an emergency, please standby with your assigned teacher . I will listen to you later . "

Hilamee thought that they wanted her to explain the current situation, so she told them to wait with their teacher .

"We know that very well . We must speak now, though . "

"Yes!! Or it will be too late!"

"There's no time . As we speak —"

Luxuria is in danger, is what Hilamee was about to blurt out, but she stopped herself just in time .

These three students would probably be okay, thanks to the mental training they had received from Shin and Schnee, but the other students would likely fall into panic .

"Headmistress, we aren't here to waste your time . The students here might be in danger . Please listen to what we have to say . "

Seeing Hilamee turn silent, and Gian stepped forward to talk to her, in a very calm tone . His eyes were deadly serious . Looking at them helped Hilamee to regain some composure she had lost .

"What do you mean?"

"We feel that some of the students here...are under the influence of something bad . We thought that you might know something, headmistress . "

Gian looked at Lecus, who explained further . The allegedly influenced students were enveloped in impure magic or were acting strangely .

One of them happened to be nearby, so Hilamee used [Analyze], but no status ailments were displayed . Lecus and the others, however, all said that they were acting strange, albeit each in a different way .

That was the difference between former players and pure denizens of this world .

Most players thought that learning skills was everything . Because of their experience in the game, their concept of skills was fixed .

Lecus and the others, however, had a more abstract understanding of skills . Because of this, they couldn't fully unleash their effects, but they could also sense things and produce effects that players couldn't .

"Did Shin give you any skills?"

"No, nothing . We learned new skills during training, though . I learned [Magic Vision], Gian [Sign Perception], and Myu [Insight] . "

Skills weren't something to reveal lightly, but because of the dire situation, Lecus did not hide anything .

Unlike Shin's expectations, they all learned perception-related skills . The reason why they learned different ones was that, in this world, there were conditions to learn skills were different from the game rules Shin was familiar with .

Before learning the skills, they had never felt sensations such as those they were feeling now, so Lecus was sure that the skills were the cause, a theory that Hilamee agreed with .

"Let's isolate one of them and ask them some questions, then . "

"I think that person would be the best choice . "

They needed as many clues as they could . Hilamee thought of asking other teachers to help, but Lecus pointed to an instructor before she could .

"That person feels the same too . "

"He's the one that..."

The instructor Lecus pointed to was listed among the possible spies who leaked classified information out of the institute . However, the investigation had only reported him as possibly compromised .

It would be easier to ask a teacher to talk in private . Hilamee then called him to one of the shelter rooms used to store goods .

"What do you need to talk about, ma'am? Will you explain the current situation?"

The male teacher was still relatively shaken because of the sudden teleportation . His eyes swiftly shifted from left to right, his behavior slightly erratic .

Hilamee, without a word, took a card out of the item box and materialized it .

It was a yellow crystal set on top of a green and white spiral, the 『Clear Storm Wand』 .

Hilamee lightly touched the confused teacher with the tip of the wand . That moment, his whole body trembled and he lost consciousness .

The 『Clear Storm Wand』 was an anti-devil weapon Shin gave to Hilamee .

Shin had attached it with added magic damage to devils and the ability to clear the influence of devils from whomever it touched .

It wouldn't have any effect on those not contaminated by a devil's influence, so it was clear that the male teacher had been controlled by a devil .

"Ooh! That weird feeling is gone!"

"Amazing, as expected of our headmistress . "

"I'm not sure what to feel about that compliment..."

Shin had given her that weapon . By herself, Hilamee couldn't have solved the situation so easily .

Though she was a former player, by the game's standards she was in the lower middle ranks at best .

"There's no time to worry about that, though . Bring all the people that feel influenced here, I'll take care of them . Try not to cause a commotion . "

"Understood . "

Lecus replied, Myu gave a huge nod and Gian a smaller one, then they all left the room . Soon enough, they returned with a female student with them .

Hilamee touched the confused student with the wand and she fell down, as if struck by vertigo . Unlike the male teacher, she didn't lose consciousness .

"Where...am I?"

The girl looked around puzzled: it looked like she didn't recognize the place .

Hilamee asked her if she remembered how she came here, not mentioning the devil, and the girl replied that her memories were hazy, as if she had been dreaming . She couldn't clearly remember what she had been doing .

Gradually realizing the current situation, the student was starting to panic, so Hilamee put her to sleep with a magic spell . She didn't like doing such a thing, but there was no time to comfort her .

After the male teacher and female student were moved to an empty room in the shelter, Hilamee had Lecus's party continue bring in influenced people to her .

The students and teachers that gave an unusual feeling were not few, but, compared to the total number of evacuees, they were still a small fraction .

While waiting for the next victim, Hilamee prayed that Shin and the others could buy enough time and stayed safe .

◆◆◆◆

Thundering sounds echoed through the institute .

No one would think that they were produced by fists striking against fists, flesh clashing against flesh .

They could, however, if those fists belonged to devils . Fists large enough to crush people .

The reinforced bodies of high level monsters were comparable to rare metals in terms of resilience .

Their massive bodies, ignoring all laws of physics, were packed with mass, heavy enough to carve the ground they walked on . Now, two of such walking calamities were battling each other .

Each clash of their fists shook the earth and the air .

"LoOks liKe yoU've goT yoUr shAre of pent-UP frUStrAtioN!"

"Spare me the disgusting comments!"

The devils exchanged casual quips along with blows . There was a gap of 50 levels between them .

Unlike players, whose level cap was 255 and individual stats varied greatly, the stats of monsters depended heavily on their level . The higher the level, the stronger the monster: it was as simple as that .

Excluding affinities and the monsters which specialized in specific stats, normally the monster with higher level was stronger . This was especially true for devils, which had high stats overall .

No clear difference could be seen from the two devils as they exchanged punches, however . The reason was the magic power Luxuria had accumulated while in Erkunt .

The source for her magic power was human desire, which strongly spiraled around human towns . There was a limit to how much magic power could be stocked, but Luxuria had enough to fill a 50 levels gap .

"How loNg can yoU keEp up, HMMm?"

"Kh!"

Naturally, however, such magic power would be depleted as the battle continued . As it did, the gap between Avaritia and Luxuria would widen .

Devils possessed vast powers . Precisely because of that, the magic power decreased at alarming speed . Little by little, Luxuria was starting to lose the edge in their battle of blows .

Luxuria's lower body tentacles were also being approached by Avaritia's [Lifedrain Sludge] .

"Get that disgusting thing away from me!!"

In response to Luxuria's shout, her tentacles trembled, unraveled from the ball, and emitted purple smoke from their tips . Their aim was the [Lifedrain Sludge] crawling on the ground .

When touched by the purple smoke, the [Lifedrain Sludge] spread all over the floor disappeared with a sizzling sound .

It was one of the skills Luxuria could use in devil form, [Fading Purple Haze] . It could inflict heavy damage to equipment and, to players, [Paralysis] and [Bloodred Poison] .

The mist's strong acidic properties would continuously inflict damage if one stayed inside it: that was the reason why [Lifedrain Sludge] was disappearing .

"BabE, I jUst wanTEd to celEBRate our meeTIng with a hUG . "

"Too bad, I already have a special someone . "

Luxuria's tentacles endlessly spewed the [Purple Haze], burning through Avaritia's [Lifedrain Sludge] . The Greed devil, however, always looked in control of the situation . Luxuria's [Purple Haze] was very effective against players, but against devils it barely managed to sear the skin surface .

The unique abilities devils possessed weren't very useful against other devils . That applied to Luxuria too . Even among specimens of the same species, however, there was good or bad affinity .

Avaritia's [Lifedrain Sludge] was a draining ability . As opposed to Luxuria's [Purple Haze], it couldn't be ignored because it would have little effect .

Because of the two devils' affinity, if Luxuria touched the sludge even a little she would be sapped of her strength even more than the usual .

"If yoU waAnt to gIVe up, now's tHE beSt, TIMe, yoU knOw? Make my lIfE a lITTle eASier . "

Avaritia urged Luxuria to surrender, confident of being in an advantageous position . Despite his boastful attitude, the blows he unleashed were as fierce as before .

"Too bad for you, I never know when to give up . Why are you even asking a devil to be a good loser?"

Luxuria switched to a defensive stance, focusing on buying time .

Shin could not move because of the hostages, but Luxuria thought that he had to have contacted Schnee . In addition, Avaritia's attitude and speech were as cocky as ever, but Luxuria felt that he actually wasn't as confident as he wanted to sound .

The reason was obvious: standing right behind him was an opponent he couldn't defeat even if he fused with Luxuria . If the hostages were rescued or Shin decided to accept a few sacrifices, the situation would change in a flash .

Avaritia was definitely acting confident to hasten a conclusion, or so Luxuria thought while blocking his attacks .

"Do you plan to absorb him too after me?"

"No wAY . As sOOn as you'RE mINe, I'm hIGhtaILing it oUt of Here . EvEn uSIng the hOStaGes, that gUy is tOo mUCh of a bEAsT . "

Avaritia replied to Luxuria's question, for the first time with a cold and dry tone . He knew that even after absorbing two other devils and using hostages, he couldn't win against Shin .

Avaritia's fists struck again, shaking Luxuria's body .

Not much time had passed since they started fighting, but the magic power Luxuria had stocked was already half depleted by Avaritia's flurry of punches and [Lifedrain Sludge] .

Because of that, the level difference between the two devils was growing ever starker .

Luxuria did not have much leeway either . Most of her skills inflicted the opponent with status ailments, but were of little use against other devils .

Her strongest strategy was to shower the enemy party with status ailments and disrupt their teamwork . Against a single opponent or someone who resisted status ailments, her strongest point was practically useless .

"I still have a couple cards to play, though . "

She didn't know how useful it could prove to be, but she would just gradually lose like that . Ready to play all cards at her disposal, Luxuria released her power even more .

The vines covering her head squirmed . After a few seconds, countless rips and cracks appeared on the surface of the vines .

"Tch!"

Avaritia clicked his tongue and packed even more power into his punches . Luxuria could still defend herself, albeit barely .

The rips and cracks on the vines grew wider, gradually revealing human mouths . The countless mouths that appeared on the vines drew in air .

"What!?"

Luxuria activated her skill after making sure that Shin, still behind Avaritia, had covered his ears with his hands .

All the mouths emitted a shriek . Shrill voices, low voices, clear voices and twisted voices . A multitude of mixed voices that attacked the opponent's mind .

It was a shockwave attack that also inflicted status ailments, called [Dread Lullaby] .

Most status ailments couldn't affect other devils, but the shockwave would .

This too was a wide-range indiscriminate attack . It blew away both Avaritia's own body and the [Lifedrain Sludge], with a deadly lullaby that would turn a normal person into a lifeless husk .

"YoU're tOo dAMN lOUD, bITch!"

Avaritia cursed while holding the ground with his hands . The [Dread Lullaby] was one of Luxuria's most powerful attacks .

Even if Avaritia was safe from the status ailments, he couldn't just shrug it off .

The more powerful Avaritia was gradually pushed back . The attack was a shockwave in all directions, so it damaged the institute too, but with a battle between devils going on so close, that was par for the course .

Incidentally, Shin quietly used Avaritia as a shield against the attack .

"TIme for pAYbAck . "

As the effects of Luxuria's [Dread Lullaby] subdued, black lights started glowing from the tips of Avaritia's goat horns .

After a few seconds of charging, the black lights were shot towards Luxuria . Compared to Avaritia's massive body, the lights seemed quite small, but were actually one mel wide .

Luxuria couldn't avoid Avaritia's attack . The black globes traveled close to Luxuria and exploded, enveloping her large body in the blast .

Just like blots of ink falling over the painting of a scenery, the very air around them seemed to be covered in black, for the three seconds of the attack .

It was Avaritia's most powerful skill, [Bullets of Corruption] .

"Kh..."

Luxuria had forgone the option of avoiding the blast and did all she could to protect herself .

It was of course a very powerful attack, but if a player was hit with it, their max HP would also be reduced to half . For this reason, it was nicknamed the "frontline killer skill" .

Other devils wouldn't be affected by the half max HP effect, but being hit by all bullets would cause considerable damage .

Part of Luxuria's tentacles and wings was gone, her large arm was partially torn off, the other half charred black, still .

"That was pretty rough..."

Differently from Luxuria's focus on status ailments, Avaritia's skills were primarily designed for draining . Luxuria suffered heavy damage because this skill had low draining capabilities, being primed for causing damage .

This was the same for players and monsters alike, and did not change in the new world either . If one wanted to raise the drained amount, it was necessary to either attack more times or raise the damage of each attack .

Avaritia's skills increased in draining ability as the damage increased .

"ThAt wAsn't eNOugh, huh . "

"You didn't think I would go down this easily, did you . "

Luxuria's stats were based on defense . Even after suffering Avaritia's brutal attack, she could still move enough .

The [Lifedrain Sludge] sent as follow-up was burned by [Purple Haze] . Luxuria's tentacles had decreased in number, however, so the sludge was closer than before .

Because of the damage suffered by her giant arm, Luxuria could not fully parry Avaritia's attacks anymore .

"Ladies, should be, treated with care!"

"HaH! No nEEd fOR cOmplImEnts bETweEn uS!"

The situation was now completely one-sided .

Luxuria could only parry one of Avaritia's fists with her arm: the other had to be blocked by her tentacles . Because of that, she couldn't stop [Lifedrain Sludge]'s progress as well as before .

Luxuria, locked in a defensive stance, saw her body gradually surrounded by [Lifedrain Sludge] .

"What a nuisance!!"

[Lifedrain Sludge] was also limiting Luxuria's movements . Little by little, Avaritia's fists started breaking through Luxuria's defenses .

With clashes strong enough to make the air vibrate, Luxuria's body floated in the air slightly .

"YoU serIoUsly puT up a gOod fIghT . "

Avaritia continued to attack relentlessly . His rush of fists didn't let up, together with [Lifedrain Sludge] . The greed devil's punches rained through Luxuria's defenses .

She was still parrying, but it was just a flimsy difference from her opponent's attacks hitting cleanly: Luxuria was practically turned into a sandbag .

"Haha!! HahAhAhaHA!! HaHAHaHA!"

Avaritia's laugh echoed through the surroundings . Luxuria's body was tattered, more than half of it was painted black .

She could tell, somehow, that Shin was holding himself back from acting .

She had secretly sent him a message before turning to devil form, so he wouldn't do anything until all hostages were freed .

"... . HahAha...hAh . "

Avaritia's fists stopped .

"What...are you doing?"

Only Luxuria's head remained uncovered by the [Lifedrain Sludge] . She couldn't imagine what Avaritia was planning by stopping to attack then and there .

"ThAt's mY lINe . YOur atTAckS aRe liGht, yoU dOn't eVen dOdge . YoU stOckEd alL tHat pOwEr, but Didn'T eVen usE it rIGhT . "

Avaritia's level was higher, but after they both used their skills, one was almost unscathed, the other almost out of commission . The gap was far too wide .

The key fact was that Luxuria failed to dodge the [Bullets of Corruption] . Even if her body was now gigantic, her high level also granted her high speed . It was unthinkable that she would be hit by all bullets, shot right in front of her .

"DoN't tELL me thAt yoU wOrrIed aBOut the dESTrucTIon? YoU, a dEVil?"

If she had gone all out, [Dread Lullaby] would have extended its reach as far as outside the institute .

If she had dodged the [Bullets of Corruption], some of them too would have caused damage outside the institute .

Luxuria's behavior, bizarre enough to make Avaritia stop attacking, was motivated by her desire of wanting to limit damage and casualties .

"Hmm...? I don't know...what you're hinting at . "

Luxuria had no intention of giving Avaritia an honest answer .

She didn't know herself why she had done that . Her own life should be the most important thing, but before she realized it, she had blocked all [Bullets of Corruption] with her own body .

She couldn't resist anymore . Avaritia would now absorb her, erasing her existence for the world .

Her body would resurrect, one day . It will probably inherit her memories too . The next Luxuria, however, would be a different entity .

Even with the same memories, her feelings would not be the same . In a way, that was the same as "death" .

"Are yoU...rEAlLy the dEvIl of lUst?"

"......... . "

Luxuria did not have enough strength left in her to even speak . Avaritia's eyes grew narrower as he watched the defenseless Luxuria . His [Lifedrain Sludge] then resumed its progress, without meeting any resistance .

Luxuria was fully covered by [Lifedrain Sludge] and turned into a black cocoon .

"ThIs...iS..."

Avaritia looked at the cocoon with suspicion .

The battle was over, Luxuria did not resist anymore . The fusion should have started already .

Despite this, Luxuria was still existing inside the cocoon .

Avaritia had no recollection of such a phenomenon . That was enough to create an opening .

Explosions resounded behind Avaritia, attracting his attention . That very instant, a blue and silver flash passed right next to the devil .

"YOu—!?!"

The flash deftly kicked the air to dodge Avaritia's fist and approached the cocoon .

"I pray it's not too late...haaaAAAAh!!"

Shin's 『The Ark』 sliced open the cocoon .