Dungeon Hunter - Chapter 128
Chapter 128: Episode 38. Depravity (1)
[“Will you really use Depravity?”]
This was the first time it had questioned me. But my decision had not changed.
I will use it. I opened my mouth to say so.
[This is your final warning. Will you use…]
“Depravity!”
Ding!
Oculus’s clone took the opportunity and jabbed at me. I stopped it and cried out nervously.
[Demon “Randalf Bruciel” is using “Depravity.”]
[You are temporarily leaving the system’s protective custody. The lock has been undone.
[You cannot use any of the system’s functions until the effects of Depravity have ended.]
[Please use caution. Demons who leave “protective custody” cannot be free from the surveillance of the Celestial World.]
[Please use caution.]
[Caution…]
Countless message windows appeared.
The one thing they all said without exception was just to use “caution.”
There was no way for me to know what it meant to leave the protective custody of the system.
However, the instant Depravity was activated, I began to change.
It was feeling of something popping open and becoming unblocked after being stopped from doing so for a long time. My body trembled. Two horns emerged on my forehead, and wings greater than my whole body pierced my back and sprang out. I grew fur and my fingernails got longer as if I were a beast. My skin, which was white, was colored jet black.
After this, strange tattoo-like things were etched densely on my skin. Those things, which also appeared like wounds, simultaneously emitted light.
And then… the Infinity Armor was transformed.
There was a darker mana. The armor absorbed it and slowly but surely changed shape. It became a full set of armor that covered my entire body with openings for the wings and horns.
Usually in this situation a message window would pop up and notify me of the fact that things had changed, but nothing appeared.
“So, I’ve left the system?”
Just in case, I tried to pull up the status window, but just as I expected, it was unresponsive.
Only then did I truly feel that I had left the system.
I slowly looked at my surroundings.
With only my mere presence I overpowered everyone around me. For a moment, even Oculus’s clones lost any desire to attack me. Also Contegnome, who had returned from futility, turned to look in my direction as he was fighting Mago.
“What a peculiar feeling.”
It was. Truly peculiar. How should I describe this feeling?
The movement of the wings was natural, as if I had already had them. The change in my form was not at all unfamiliar. It felt as though I had found my true self.
At the same time, I received a huge realization.
“…This is the original form of a demon.”
Aaah!
I felt a shiver.
The question that was illegal for a demon to think of even once.
How is it that demons, unlike Celestials, have no wings?
How could it be that demons are so very similar to humans?
Occasionally, demons with horns had appeared, like Ariel Diablo, but that was an incredibly rare occurrence that only came with the mixing of mighty magic and bloodlines.
As such, demons singularly hate humans, because of their very similar appearance. There was a serious distinction in strength, but outwardly there was really nothing different about them. They were unable to distinguish themselves.
This was the same reason why all demons except for me completely rejected anything to do with humans. They loathed them so much that it disgusted them to even be close to them, to even look at them.
Well… now I thought I got it.
My appearance now, this was really the original form of a demon.
There must be some reason why demons lost their wings and horns and gained a similar physical appearance to humans. That restriction was undone through Depravity, and only I had found my original form.
“It is Depravity and yet, it is not.”
Unlimited mana. The confidence that I could control just about everything!
This was surely Depravity and yet, not Depravity.
“The natural form of a demon? Randalf Bruciel, what kind of nonsense are you talking about?”
Oculus’s main body clenched its teeth. He had lost his composure. The way he was staring at me carried an infinite “disgust.”
“Why are you so agitated? If you consider it to be nonsense, then, that’s it, right?”
Someone saying “This is the real me” immediately after transforming would, of course, sound like a laughable idea.
But Oculus couldn’t laugh it off. There was hatred in his eyes as he was staring at me, but at the same time, it was mixed with a faint jealousy.
He knew.
He had become naturalized but on some level, he must have understood his origins and instinctively realized that my body itself was the origin of demons.
That sense of loss that he was not the real thing. However insane he might be, he was still the Archduke. He had not lost his sense of pride as a demon. He couldn’t help but be angry because his entire species had suffered unjustly.
“Well then… have you broken some kind of taboo?”
“The one who has broken a taboo is you, Oculus, not me.”
“That appearance, tell me what kind of… what kind of trick you played. Have you evolved? Are you saying you’ve actually broken the boundary and achieved evolution?”
Oculus.
How is he leaning on the idea of evolution like that?
It seemed like he must have known. Just as I thought, Oculus had become naturalized and so, clearly, he felt a sense of unfamiliarity. This couldn’t be his true form, if he had to change… so immediately after he saw me, he thought I had gotten the possibility of “evolution” and recklessly crossed the line.
Since I had done the impossible by progressing at such a fast rate it wasn’t strange that he would mistake it for the first step of evolution.
Maybe the fairy tales of souls, the demon predator… this might be the moment where he came to realize little by little that they’re not just a little bit off but that they’re “false.” The reason he summoned the shadow of splitting oneself was to understand the “answer” to the things he did. That would make sense.
“How pitiful.”
For the first time, I changed my understanding of Oculus.
I thought he was just crazy. That he was no more than a lunatic. I thought he was unfortunate, and sometimes when we talked at the Auction of Devildom, I mocked him, too.
But I had misunderstood. Wasn’t it just that he instinctively struggled to find his “origins?”
He was simply in a period of transition—as if he was on a journey to find himself.
He longed for it to the point of yelling out and throwing a fit.
It seemed like I was looking at my past self, and naturally I had sympathy for him.
From the point of view of a demon, I gained just a little respect for him, even though he wasn’t becoming of an Archduke.
In the previous life he hadn’t left a distinct impression. All I knew was that he was the first to establish the Tree of the World. He didn’t appear to have any drive, and he even seemed to disregard the idea of becoming the Dark Lord.
The turning point in his pessimistic outlook was, in fact, me.
Because I showed him the possibilities, Oculus was on a completely different path than in the previous life. So much so that I even doubted whether he was the same Oculus that I knew.
That means from the start he had never found his true form in the previous life.
“What’s that look in your eyes? Quit it. If you won’t tell me, I’ll force it out of you. And if even that’s impossible, then I’ll completely wipe you off of the earth!”
“Your journey is over, Oculus.”
His long, long journey.
Oculus was exhausted. He was at his limit. If he continued his longing at that moment, he would become unable to control himself.
Before that happened, he would find peace again.
Oculus’s worries had perhaps emerged since the day he was born. Because I had resolved that I also needed to observe his final moments.
“Shut up!”
Oculus yelled and moved. Ignoring his mental fatigue, he attacked me together with his clones. It was simply a desperate twitch. I felt his sincere desire to surpass me no matter what.
Even so, he couldn’t touch me now that I had rediscovered my true form.
Whoosh!
I flapped my wings. It seemed that I knew what I needed to do now.
The two horns that emerged from my forehead were a wellspring of mana. It could be substituted with any variety of mana.
I rubbed my horns once and all my mana was changed to “moonlight mana.”
Highendall. Right now it seemed possible for me to master 99% of his swordsmanship.
Waaaah!
Rage and The Sword of the Emperor moved impressively. This wasn’t simply to misdirect the opponent. Each individual movement contained magical significance. And so the more I use Moonlight Drop the stronger it becomes.
“My eyes penetrate the world! There’s no way I could misread those kinds of movements!”
Oculus had the skill known as the “Eye of the World.” With his ability to read his opponent’s Mind’s Eyes, detect them, and strike back, ridiculous motions wouldn’t be able to get through.
But… what about this time?
Whack!
One of his clones disappeared. It attempted to partially reconstitute but it washed away like a knife cutting through water and perished. My wings enfolded one of his clones that I had knocked down. It then melted itself into my wings and became mana.
“No way I could have misread…!”
Oculus saw that and bit down hard on his lip.
“Oculus, knowing everything seems to have made you pretty unhappy.”
There were things you couldn’t do anything about even if you knew. Lots of them.
Since Oculus knew that, too, it only made him unhappier.
“Shut up!!”
His anger raised high, Oculus summoned one of his remaining clones. Eventually, innumerable branches grew out of his body, and he became a huge tree.
He expanded with a force that felt like it would just about engulf the entire dungeon level, and then he swung his branches and roots about randomly like whips.
Boom! Boom! Boooom!
He didn’t distinguish between his own forces and his enemies.
I spread my wings widely.
The work of getting through those thousands, tens of thousands of branches—it would be impossible for my former self, but now that I had gained my wings I could do it.
In an instant I flapped my wings and my feet floated in midair.
I reached the heart of Oculus faster than the whips were flying at me.
“Now… rest in peace.”
Slash!
I thrust into Oculus’s heart with Rage and the Sword of the Emperor.
Pow!
As soon as I had dispensed with Oculus, a sudden weariness surged over me.
It was difficult to maintain my balance. At this, Krithli, who had been fighting Gigantes, quickly ran over and helped me up.
Smack!
I deflected Krithli’s hand.
Was this a side effect of Depravity?
I didn’t have trust in anyone. I even felt animosity toward Krithli. While I knew this wasn’t right, I felt an instinctive resistance to her.
It was the feeling that I simply had to be by myself.
“My Dungeon Master, are you alright?”
Krithli spoke with a concerned tone.
I turned my head and stared at Contegnome.
It wasn’t over just because I had dealt with Oculus. Only if I took care of that damn guy and escaped could I say that I had been successful.
“What is the status with the other demons?”
“…They’ve almost reached us. They’re not stopping, even though Oculus is dead.”
The demons under Oculus’ command.
I thought it would be over if I cut off the head, but it seemed that that wasn’t the case.
Whether they were to carry out their final orders until the end, or for some other reason.
This was dangerous if it kept up like this. Even if it was possible for me to get myself out of here, the bulk of my forces here would be annihilated.
The strength of this place was my foundation. It was my crowning glory that I had arduously constructed over 3 years.
Really, would it be better just to kill everyone?
In any case I could do it just by myself. That’s right, even by myself…
“Damn.”
My head shook. I was far from being in my right mind. If things continued like this there was a great chance I would massacre my own forces. It was gradually getting harder to hold on.
“Get out of here.”
“What?”
“I’ll take on Contegnome. Turn and run from this dungeon immediately.”
“I cannot do that.”
“You’re getting in my way. Now is the ideal time, when Oculus’ monsters are still confused.”
“My Dungeon Master!”
“Krithli. How do you not get that I’m not trying to sacrifice myself in order to save you all? I’m not lying, you’re actually getting in my way!”
Whoosh!
I unfurled my wings.
I stared at Krithli with a powerful intent to kill her.
All I did was wait with great restrain, my fists clenched.
As if Krithli understood that, she drew a deep breath and bowed her head deeply.
“I don’t know about the others, but I will keep watch over this place until you escape.”
“Krithli…!”
“Don’t you realize that if you perish I will surely die as well? Please stop saying such coldhearted things.”
Riding a giant raven, Krithli flew over to Krathra.
Then she bestowed complete authority to Krathra, commanding him to escape.
Krathra looked at Krithli and hesitated for a few moments, then took the monsters and retreated, unable to do anything in the face of Krithli’s determined manner.
Fortunately, I was able to maintain control of my thoughts until then.
However, just as their retreat was coming to an end, I felt my mind unavoidably becoming distant.
“Grrr!”