A Game of Chicken (2)

❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱ second year, first semester

Suddenly, a man named Malrog made his appearance as the head of the Red Elephant, one of the Four Constellations.

The guy would come into direct conflict with Ian Fairytale. Someone playing the game for the first time would only think that he was an 'evil senior with a shitty personality.'

Then, they'd become puzzled after watching the members of the Red Elephant turning into emotionless puppets. I'd been perplexed too. They had all been affected by Malrog's illusion magic.

Eventually, Malrog would reveal his identity with the use of [Mad Banquet].

Then, Ian would invade the space that Malrog created and wage a bloody battle with his life on the line. This very space, where both the ceiling and the walls had become a part of a complex black labyrinth, was Malrog's aforementioned space.

Incidentally, invading Malrog's space was easy. It was like Leafa the Illusive's [Fictional Hell]—you could enter freely, but it was difficult to leave.

Moreover, since Divine Power, an ability of the light element, was able to dispel the dark element, Ian's swordsmanship was able to reveal Malrog's true form.

Malrog the Envious was able to take on a human form, but he was unable to become fully human.

Ultimately, his true form was that of a demon. He would inadvertently release his human transfiguration from time to time if he dropped his guard.

Malrog's wish was to become fully human. He wanted to integrate into human society and share all kinds of emotions with other people.

He wished for this because he was lonely. This was also why he had decided to be the sworn brother of Leafa.

He believed that playing house with humans while occasionally murdering them or eating them for his pleasure would bring comfort to his empty and lonely life.

His human transformation could become nearly perfect if he had the Cherubim's Necklace. Then, his transformation would almost never become undone.

It would make him no different than any other human.

"…"

The bloodlust in Malrog's eyes was as cold as ice.

Rock fragments had conjured around him and began to float about.

Malrog's mana gushed over me like a gale and pressed against my skin. It was utterly menacing.

A bead of cold sweat rolled down my cheek.

I'd gone ahead and set the mood to threaten him, but now I was frantically trying to survive.

Malrog was currently classified as a human. Yet, his level was 155.

This meant that I wasn't able to trigger the activation condition for [Hunter].

Malrog would be forced to reveal his true form if he was hit by a light element attack because it had the power to dispel the dark element, unfortunately, Ian was currently lost in an illusion.

That was why I was trying to steal what Malrog wanted so I could stand on a more equal ground against him, even if it was by a small amount

I would lose my life by even the slightest mistake.

My heart began racing like crazy, but it quickly calmed down once the effects of my passive skill, [Frozen Soul], kicked in.

"I don't know how you were able to escape my spell… but that belongs to me. Hand it over."

Malrog held out his hand.

His tone of voice was commanding and riddled with the prickly thorns of malice.

There was blood oozing out from his right eye.

I was certain that his magic circuit for illusion magic had been destroyed when [Ice Sovereign's Majesty] had deflected his spell.

Meaning, he could no longer cast illusion spells.

"I don't think so."

I continued our war of nerves without backing down.

"You're going to fight me with the measly amount of mana you have?"

"My measly amount of mana is still more than enough to destroy a single necklace."

"You hopeless fool."

Malrog spat out with a sigh in his voice.

Whoosh─.

A light brown magic circle glowing with a blackish light started to form above Malrog's head.

Then, rocks began floating above his outstretched hand.

"Know your place."

[Malrog the Envious] Psychology: [Believes that if he tortures you, you will surrender obediently.]

Wait, what the fuck?

"If this is how things are going to end up anyway!!"

I freaked out as soon as I read Malrog's psychology and raised my voice.

My voice clamored all across the venue.

"Then I might as well screw you over before I die."

Privately, I became the veteran actor Isaac.

'I'm clearly about to die anyway, so I'd rather make things harder for you before I do'—the resolve was fake, but I pretended that it was real.

My voice would have been trembling if my passive skill, [Frozen Soul] hadn't been cooling down my emotions.

"…"

I guess it worked since Malrog's magic circle began to grow dimmer.

[Malrog the Envious] Psychology: [Nervous because he thinks you're capable of breaking the Cherubim's Necklace.]

"Tch,"

Malrog clicked his tongue in irritation.

He was probably thinking that he couldn't risk the chance of the Cherubim's Necklace being destroyed because a human like me interfered.

After all, the necklace was the one and only item that could grant his greatest wish.

"…What do you want?"

"Do you finally feel like taking?"

Malrog's thick eyebrows arched as he glowered. Apparently, he wasn't too keen on my response.

Then again, I was the weakest of the weak as far as he was concerned. He was probably furious that someone weak like me had managed to get under his skin.

The air was unbearably heavy and a sense of tension engulfed the surroundings.

I didn't take my eyes off Malrog as I continued,

"Leave this place immediately without touching anyone here. If you do that, I won't break this necklace for now."

Obviously, there was no way that he would ever accept anything that I brought to the negotiation table, but all I had to do was stall for time.

Malrog squeezed his eyes shut and opened them again while heaving a sigh.

"That's not even worth considering."

He narrowed his eyes before continuing,

"If you don't hand over the necklace right now…"

He extended an arm and pointed not at me but in a different direction. The magic circle deployed over his head followed suit and also changed directions.

He was pointing in the direction of a crowd of students who were standing as still as mannequins.

"I'm going to kill them all."

Is that supposed to be a threat? You're planning to kill everyone anyway.

On the surface, I probably looked like I wasn't even the slightest bit afraid of Malrog. But the truth was that I was absolutely terrified.

In any event, I probably didn't look scared, so Malrog had likely concluded that he simply had to provoke my guilty conscience instead.

This was a game of chicken.

We would continue racing toward one another until we finally crashed. Both of us would suffer a lot of damage as a result.

Malrog had decided to continue advancing upon me even after taking the risk that I might break the Cherubim's Necklace into consideration.

"Everyone will die, all because of you."

More importantly, Malrog probably couldn't tolerate the idea of backing down. His pride wouldn't allow that.

I dryly gulped. The negotiation table had been flipped over far too quickly.

I was cornered. I had nowhere to run.

Let's say that Malrog really did kill someone just to test me.

What would happen if I held tight to the Cherubim's Necklace and continued to wage my war of nerves against him? Then, he would slaughter the students one after another in order to put pressure on me.

And, though it likely wouldn't come to this, what if I decided to destroy the Cherubim's Necklace?

Then, Malrog would immediately kill me and go on a rampage in a fit of rage.

"Phew…"

I took a deep breath.

I never took my eyes off of Malrog. The bastard would probably notice my plans the moment my eyes strayed from him.

'Please… please.'

I could no longer afford to continue this war of nerves.

This was a battlefield.

Isn't it about time…?!

[Master, I have succeeded.]

An elegant and beautiful female voice resounded in my head just then.

It was Hilde.

'Finally!'

A grin spread over my mouth.

I believed in you~.

"What are you laughing at…?"

「Radiant Wing Slash (Light Element, ★5)」

Swooooooosh—————!!!

Just then, a pure-white sword aura pierced through the air.

Malrog saw the sword aura coming from the side and quickly tried to dodge, but—

Clang——!!

The sword aura slashed through his leg and scattered a rainbow-colored refraction.

Malrog's expression twisted. Light element attacks were the weakness of demons. That would have probably been a fatal blow if it hit his body.

Malrog fell on his ass after losing an entire leg.

He looked alarmed as he turned around and stared at the black-haired man who had sent the light element sword aura at him.

"I… found… you…!"

Ian Fairytale. The main character of ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱.

Ian was holding his sword, wrapped in light mana, tightly as he glared back at Malrog. His eyes, however, showed no signs of life.

Well, that was probably because he was still trapped in Malrog's illusion. He had simply located the version of Malrog inside his illusion.

"How did you even…? Huh?"

Malrog's jaw dropped. He had spotted the necklace that was tinkling around Ian's, the Child of Light's, neck.

As if it had found its rightful master, the Cherubim's Necklace emitted a white holy light from the magic circle engraved on it.

Ian had fainted during the [Mad Banquet], but the Cherubim's Necklace had awakened and amplified his Divine Power.

The fight against Malrog the Envious during the first semester of the second year of ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱.

The bastard was capable of using illusion magic freely. And Ian had fought him and won all the same.

How had that been possible? It had all been thanks to Divine Power.

Though Ian probably would've been helpless against the [Mad Banquet], a dark element illusion spell, had he been alone.

But Ian had been equipped with the Cherubim's Necklace.

It was thanks to the necklace that his Divine Power had been amplified, which in turn had allowed him to resist the world of the dark elemental illusion. Not only did that make the world of the illusion begin to fade, but it also allowed him to discern the image of the caster outside of it.

As such, Ian was able to move his arms and legs.

And he could face Malrog the Envious while straddling the line between reality and illusion.

'Sorry, I pulled aggro to show you this.'

Was this seriously the Cherubim's Necklace's buff?

So, how was the Cherubim's Necklace hanging around Ian's neck you ask? It was there because, fortunately, my plan had worked.

I was standing in a location where there were no lamps. And I had purposefully stretched my arm back as I held out the necklace.

All so that Malrog would never figure out my strategy.

In conclusion, the necklace I was holding was not the Cherubim's Necklace.

It was just a counterfeit that I had prepared in advance.

'I'm glad it worked out…'

I gently squeezed the counterfeit necklace I was holding again and shrugged.

A few days before the gathering.

I'd sought out Eva Hielov, who had sold my information and grilled her.

After all, I had [Psychology Insight], so it was a simple matter for me to read her deepest secrets and put some pressure on her.

To add insult to injury, Eva had sold my information to the Red Elephant, and she was terrified of the backlash. It was easy to make sure she wouldn't say anything.

'Eva the Lurker' was a small-fry mob that appeared in [Act 5, Chapter 3, Blue Wolf v.s. Red Elephant] of ❰Magic Knight of Märchen❱.

Eva used the [Stealth] spell. [Stealth] made it so that only a minuscule amount of the caster's mana leaked. That was why it was difficult to sense Eva when she was using [Stealth] if you didn't have a very high mana perception.

'Moreover, Eva is a character whose entire identity revolves around [Stealth].'

Eva was unrivaled in sneakiness at Märchen Academy

She wasn't that hard to deal with as a mob because she'd still get caught in AoE spells anyway, but she had been incredibly useful in my plan.

I had told Eva beforehand to go out to the hallway as soon as the Atla Hall gathering had started and await further instructions from Hilde.

Then, once she was in the hallway, Hilde would blackmail her using the script that I had prepared.

Hilde had probably also told her that it was safe to enter Malrog's space in order to convince her more effectively.

As a result, Eva had entered Malrog's space, approached me in secret while I was unconscious, and had been secretly waiting on standby.

Then, once I'd broken free of Malrog's illusion magic and taken out the counterfeit necklace…

Eden would take the real Cherubim's Necklace and sneakily hand it over to Eva, who was waiting behind me.

Eva's [Stealth] made it impossible to perceive any objects that were touching her body. This could be proved by how her glasses and the clothes she was wearing also turned invisible.

The spell was limited in that it couldn't conceal other living beings that she was touching, but that didn't really matter.

The Cherubim's Necklace had immediately turned invisible as soon as Eva touched it.

Then, she had snuck her way to where Ian Fairytale was. From there, she had hung the Cherubim's Necklace around his neck just as I had instructed.

That was the reason why Ian had been able to resist Malrog's illusion magic.

On top of the stage. Beneath the spotlight.

Malrog was utterly baffled.

"What just…? A-argh…!"

Divine power was the ability to cast light upon the darkness. It forced Malrog to revert to his original form.

Malrog's eyes turned crimson. Black wings jetted out from his head.

His head quickly swelled up in size. His muscular body was swallowed by his head. He looked like some kind of bizarre rock.

The host and the normal male students who had been pulling the wagon were pushed off the stage.

One after another, dozens of human heads pierced through his skin and began grinding their teeth.

[Crunch, crunch—.]

His eyelids audibly ripped open.

His crimson eyes grew to about 3 meters in diameter.

His useless black wings fluttered haplessly over his head.

His mouth had torn open all the way down to his chin, and a neat array of teeth was barred for all to see. The bastard was grinding his teeth without pause.

Crunch crunch, it echoed gruesomely. He was the demon who always ground his teeth in envy and seethed in his inferiority complex—'Malrog the Envious'.

He had finally shown his true form.

[Malrog the Envious] Lv: 160

Race: Demon

Elements: Dark, Rock

Danger: Extreme

Psychology: [Wantstokillyouwantstokillyouwantstokillyouwantstokillyouwantstokillyouwantstokillyouwantstokillyouwantstokillyouwantstokillyouwantstokillyou..]

[You're just a weakling.

Crunch

You're just a weak little bug!!

Crunch

And yet…

Crunch

You've angered me, you bastard.]

Crunch—. Crunch—.

[I'll kill you.

Crunch

More painfully than anyone else.

Crunch

I'll kill you—.]

Crunch—. Crunch—.

[I'll stab skewers through your mouth,

Crunch

And I'll use rocks

Crunch

to grind up your limbs.

Crunch

And even if you shudder with regret

Crunch

I will still kill you

More painfully than anyone else—.]

Crunch—. Crunch—.

Malrog conjured a gigantic magic circle.

This is the first time I've felt happy to see a demon's hideous form…

"Hic!"

Eva, who was still under the effects of the [Stealth] spell, began hiccupping from fright. Oh, so that's where she was hiding.

Anyway, it seemed like Malrog was displeased about the fact that someone as weak as me had gotten under his skin.

[The demon has been recognized as an enemy.] [The unique trait [Hunter] is activated!] [Your level and stats are temporarily greatly enhanced!] [Your skill tree temporarily becomes +10!]

'Finally.'

Well, I guess it's time to show him the difference in our respective strengths.

I began to slowly walk up to Malrog as ice and rock mana began flowing out from me.