Chapter 97 - The Burning Dunge—

[I see...] The Guardian relayed, her voice resonating like an echo in their minds. Everyone stared at her as if she were a creature from a fairytale.

'That's a strong spirit. I can sense it…' Vaelthir thought, his gaze steady. 'To think he can summon her like this…'

'She's so pretty…' Sylva thought, her eyes trailing over the Guardian's figure as Van gave her instructions.

"Can you do it?"

'To think he could also summon spirits…' Unicus mused, almost in awe.

[Essentially prevent the air from reaching the skeleton, huh?] the Guardian asked.

"Yeah. I know you've got experience creating vacuums firsthand," Van said, his tone steady but a flicker of memory crossed his mind. Last night's encounter with her power was fresh.

[... Very well,] she relayed, her focus shifting to the skeleton. With a flick of her arm, the flames surrounding the skeletal mage vanished, snuffed out as if they had never existed. The skeleton collapsed to the ground, lifeless.

"I-It worked..!" Sylva exclaimed, breaking the silence.

But no one else spoke. They all stared at the motionless skeleton, their tension palpable.

"H-huh..? Why are you guys so tense? We did it!"

"Not yet," Van muttered, his tone dark.

"Indeed," Arnolt said, his voice low. "Who's to say that bastard won't rise the moment the Guardian releases her vacuum?"

All eyes turned back to the skeleton. Sylva swallowed hard, her expression tightening.

"Alright… Release it," Van instructed.

The Guardian's hold vanished, and the air returned to normal. The skeleton remained inert, unmoving on the ground.

Everyone let out a collective sigh of relief.

'A thousand more of these,' Van thought, his gaze shifting to the Guardian.

"Go back for now, I'll call you if we need some help," He instructed calmly, and she dissipated back to her world with a nod.

'If this works, she'll have to overexert herself… and that means me, since she uses my mana. We'll have to pick our fights carefully. Just skeletons—just skeletons all the way down until we reach that bastard. How tedious. Why couldn't his seal work like Magus's, where only the direct encounters scale to his stats?'

Van frowned, his thoughts spiraling.

'Then again… Who's to say the one we're chasing isn't nearby? In the end, we're relying on what Unicus said. He's the only one who made it out of here alive.'

His eyes flicked to his status window, scanning the sealed stats that mocked him. Then his gaze landed on Unicus.

'... It can't be. I could see it in his eyes. The loss and pain... He isn't the villain we're chasing.... And I know the look of hurt, from Magus. Amoria confirmed it for me with her story.'

"It worked… Now we wait. Make sure no reinforcements arrive," Unicus commanded.

Minutes passed. The silence was heavy but unbroken. When it seemed clear, they cautiously emerged from their hiding place.

Unicus approached the skeleton, kneeling to pick up the wand it had clutched in its bony hand.

'But just to be sure…'

Van moved forward with the rest of the group, his expression thoughtful. "To think it took something as simple as following the Fire Triangle to bring down that mage's skeleton."

"Hmh," Unicus let out a somber chuckle, "If only we were that simple first time we came here," He said as he looked into the skeleton's empty eye-sockets.

"Fire Triangle...?" Ami asked.

"Ah," Van turned around.

Then pausing at Ami.

"...."

"Remind me, Unicus," Van muttered immediately, "the Triangle consists of Oxygen, Heat and..."

"—Fuel. Take one, and it can't exist anymore. The magic in it most likely thrived on and burned through that. I guess once we neutralized the air, the magic dissipated out of the skeleton," Unicus explained.

"Yeah," Van sighed thoughtfully, exasperation in his tone. "100%."

'Fuck... FUCK. FUCK!' Van swore repeatedly in his mind, a storm brewing behind his calm exterior.

"R-right..." Ami murmured, scratching her head as she tried to wrap her mind around the explanation.

An air of unease circled Van. His thoughts churned.

"All right, everyone. Good job, Van," Unicus said thoughtfully as he stood, offering a forced smile while his gaze shifted away from the fallen skeleton.

"Let's go. The city shouldn't be too far from here. I know a shortcut," Unicus announced, gesturing for the group to follow him.

"A shortcut, just after being here once?" Van asked, his tone subtly tense.

Ami noticed the shift immediately. "Van...?" she questioned softly.

"... What can I say? I guess I was lucky to notice it," Unicus replied casually, heading toward a dark path veering off the main trail.

Van's silence was heavy as Unicus continued walking. A hidden smirk crept across Unicus's face as he approached the shortcut—a shadowy cavern shrouded in mystery.

"Come on, guys! We're almost—"

"HELLIX! WHAT'S THE MEANING OF THIS!?" Savathon's voice boomed, cutting Unicus off and snapping his attention backward.

Unicus turned, his smirk faltering. Van stood at the vanguard, his greatsword drawn, barring anyone from advancing. The rest of the party stood behind Van, keeping their distance, their eyes darting nervously between him and Unicus.

"Van...?" Unicus asked softly, his voice laced with unease. "What's wrong?"

"I honestly would've bought it," Van said, his tone low and steady, earning a twitch from Unicus.

Van's gaze sharpened. "The way you faked not knowing a damn thing about the skeleton made me let a few things slide."

Unicus's face stiffened as Van stepped closer.

"Like how we were sealed in the cavern, yet you escaped as the only survivor from your expedition. Somehow, you avoided being trapped like the rest of us," Van muttered, his words slicing through the silence.

"And how I only got struck with a seal after you went in after me," he continued, eliciting a collective gasp from the group.

"BRAT! You can't possibly think that—" Arnolt started, but Van's glare cut him off mid-sentence.

Van's voice dropped to a menacing growl. "But what gave you away…"

Unicus instinctively leaned back, a bead of sweat tracing down his temple.

"...Was the Fire Triangle concept. And the way you casually threw around the term fuel in a fantasy world," Van snarled, his greatsword glinting ominously as he pointed it at Unicus.

"You motherfucker," he growled, his voice laced with venom. "THE FIRE TRIANGLE CONCEPT ONLY EXISTS IN MY WORLD. NOT THIS ONE."

'I wasn't able to notice it back in the city. Brushed it off because I was new to the concept… But he also has the brightest aura around him. Yet, if I squint...'

'...I can see it. Something dark. Foreign. Just at the edges of his skin.'

"Y-your world..!?" Unicus stuttered, his face pale. "W-what are you talking about, Van? Are you alright...?"

"Don't play dumb," Van muttered, his voice low and cold, slicing through the air like a blade.

The group froze, rattled by the confrontation. Unicus's familiar face and presence anchored them in disbelief, making Van's accusations feel impossible. Adding to their unease was the unsettling aura around Van—unusual, almost predatory, and hard to ignore.

This was Unicus. There was no doubt about it.

Yet, an unease crept through their minds, especially Vaelthir's. Van's earlier logic when subduing the skeleton had been undeniable. The clarity, the precision—it wasn't the reasoning of a madman.

And yet…

Something about what Van said now gnawed at the edges of reason, forcing them to consider the unthinkable:

That Unicus might already be gone.

It made sense.

... If only Van wasn't the one who said it.

'...But,' Vaelthir thought, his sharp eyes narrowing as he studied Van, 'HIS world…?'

"Y-YOU'RE TALKING OUT OF YOUR ASS!" a human warrior shouted from the back, his voice trembling with panic. "I THINK HE'S LOST HIS MIND!"

The words snapped Vaelthir out of his spiraling thoughts. The accusation echoed among the group, their tension palpable as they started to inch away from Van, their hands twitching toward their weapons.

Yes. The warrior was right. Van wasn't making sense. Was he?

Van's gaze flicked to the back of the group, his jaw tightening as he noted the rising hostility.

'Damn it...!! FUCK! I DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS..!' he thought, his frustration mounting as the weight of their stares bore down on him.

Unicus's lips curled into a knowing smirk as he seized the moment.

"E-everyone!" Unicus shouted, his tone frantic, yet calculated. "I think he has it! Everyone who turned into skeletons got radicalized like this! We need to subdue him before—"

His words were abruptly cut short as Van vanished in a blur of motion.

"[Hard Swing]!" Van roared, his blade slicing through the air with terrifying speed in a vertical strike.

"NO!!!" Sylva screamed, her voice echoing through the cavern.

Van appeared before Unicus, his greatsword poised to cleave him in two. But just before the blade struck, Unicus clicked his tongue.

"Tsk." He sighed, raising his sword in an almost lazy motion. The weapons collided with a deafening clang, stopping Van's strike dead in its tracks.

"...!!!" Gasps rippled through the group as they watched, frozen in disbelief. Van's greatsword rested atop Unicus's blade, neither yielding an inch.

"U-Unicus…! W-..." Ami stammered, her voice trembling.

"Haaaah..." Unicus exhaled deeply, closing his eyes before reopening them with a steely gaze that pierced Van.

[I took you for a fool, Hellix. Sure enough, that's what the Goddess said about you.] Unicus's voice suddenly echoed in Van's and everyone's minds, chilling them to their core.

'The GODDESS...!? So, she had a hand in this..!!?'

Van growled, every muscle in his body tensing as he pressed his sword harder against Unicus's. His teeth ground together as he strained to overpower him.

[...Well, doesn't matter,] Unicus relayed calmly, his gaze shifting to Van's greatsword. ["We may have the same strength stat. But the reason I'm going to overpower you… and make you submit…"]

Van's eyes narrowed as Unicus began pushing him back effortlessly.

[...Is due to MY 500 Intelligence and Mana. And the OP (Overpowered) spells I mastered over thousands of years.] Venom laced every word as Unicus let out a laugh, the air around him suddenly crackling with pressure.

Before Van could react, a powerful shockwave erupted from Unicus. Van was hurled backward at blinding speed, slamming into the cavern wall with such force that the entire chamber rattled.

"VAN!!!" Ami screamed, her eyes darting to the dust cloud where his body disappeared. Her voice cracked with panic.

[I,] Unicus's voice echoed again, pulling everyone's attention back to him. [Wanted to give you all a sense of adventure before I sent you to your graves. It was to respect the original owner of this body's dying wishes.]

His tone grew darker, colder, as the last vestiges of Unicus vanished entirely.

[But now? I don't feel like it anymore. You can thank that trash player in the dust cloud for ruining my mood. But before I kill all of you,]

Unicus's voice had become completely foreign, no longer resembling the man they knew. He grinned menacingly as his eyes fell on Sylva.

[... Maybe I'll have some fun with some of you, if you choose not to fight me.] He raised a hand, pointing directly at her and Ami.

"Dying... wishes…?" Sylva whispered, her voice shaking with disbelief.

"THIS FUCKING BASTARD!" Savathon roared, flames flickering in his palms as his glare burned into Unicus.

Vaelthir immediately moved, instinctively shielding Sylva with his body.

[As for the rest of you,] He relayed coldly, [Turn into skelet—] Unicus began, his hand hovering as if to curse them all.

But a sharp cry cut through the air.

"[Hard Swing]!" Van shouted.

The group looked around, but Van was nowhere in sight. Suddenly, a khukri knife spun through the air, grazing Unicus's cheek and drawing a thin line of blood.

"Ah…!" Savathon gasped, noticing one of his knives was missing. Van had wasted no time sneaking from the dust cloud, snatching the blade, and hurling it at Unicus—using Hard Swing to amplify its force.

"You stupid fucker," Van growled, stepping forward as Unicus touched his cheek, his fingers coming away with blood. Unicus's face twisted in irritation.

"..."

"You may have had thousands of years to learn a bunch of cool skills," Van said, his voice steady, his steps unrelenting. "But I spent my entire life mastering just one."

He hoisted his greatsword over his shoulder, his eyes blazing with determination.

"Bring it on."

"Van!" Ami cried out, her voice trembling with hope as she saw him standing tall once more.

------------------------

ANNOUNCEMENT! The Paperback Edition of the First Season is now available on Amazon! 📖✨

It features Chapters 1 to 62 (Van Hellix to Velvet & Plush).

The eBook Edition is also available separately!

Links available in my Discord! 

I'd really appreciate it if you gave it a read and left a review—it would really help boost its visibility in the store (or so I've heard)!