Dance with the Nightingale-Chapter 62 - 61: First Glance: Demonic Cult (II)

-Showtime.

With that I started.

My Armor appearing on my body, its magical circuits litting up in a blue light, creating a beautiful contrast with its black obsidian.

[Attribute Infusion]

My mana flooded my armor and my sword, carrying with it my attribute, that blurred the boundaries between equipment and myself. Merging both of us; making us, one and the same.

My mana capacity increased, so did my physical abilities along with my perception, comprehension and manipulation. Giving my magical powers a large boost.

Making me competent enough to cast the spell I devised.

Clutching my sword, I stood in place, concentrating on my mana.

Spreading it, separating it, weaving it into tendrils before projecting it outside my body, through my sword.

Six tendrils, for six different elements, each tendril attached to my sword.

The first step for each tendril was the same though. Each tendril wriggled and moved, constructing what looked like an enchantment, no, a part of enchantment, a Runery.

(A/N: Incomplete Enchantments, or parts of enchantments, like the ones here will be called Runery from now on.)

The runery was small and congested and yet, it was slowly being compressed even more.

The mana tendrils working relentlessly to make it smaller, eliminating or changing each unnecessary part.

And when they were finally done, small runeries the size of a tennis ball were floating in the air.

Their only defining feature, a small empty space in the middle, as if made to accommodate something.

With the runery completed, I moved in to the next part.

The difficult part.

Using the medium-low affinity that my attribute granted me with the elements, I converted my mana into elemental energy, pure elemental energy of six different elements, pure elemental energy that had my mana signature.

(A/N: Explained this in chapter 24.)

Something I couldn’t have done without the magical boost.

Channeling an different element into each tendril, which made it glow with the respective element’s color, I continued converting my mana.

Continued till I filled the runery with elemental energy, leaving me with only 21% of my reserves.

And as soon as I did, the runery did its magic, shifting and turning, adjusting its structure before getting to work. That is, compressing the elemental energy.

Compressing it so much that it was no bigger than pea.

The elemental energy was so compressed that it was almost translucent, almost liquefied.

It wasn’t done though.

Next, the runery shifted again, twisting in the opposite direction, before starting to rotate. Collecting elemental energy from the nature with each rotation.

Using this free period, I chugged in a mana potion while waiting for the runery to collect enough natural elemental energy. And I didn’t have to wait for long.

In just a few moments, the pea-sized-almost-translucent-elemental energy was no longer pea-sized, covering it was a thick layer of natural elemental energy, making it the size of a football, which was again compressed to the size of a tennis ball.

’Now, time to see if my enchanting actually worked.’

I thought as it was finally time to use that little something I had added in my sword.

Retracting the mana tendril, I pulled the six balls of elemental energy towards my sword. The runery of each ball adjusting itself for the final process, merging.

The six balls stopped just beside my sword in a particular order. The runery in them extending out, connecting with each other, before finally touching my sword.

The sword laid dormant though, like any other completed artefact, it refused to interact with foreign runery.

Or that was supposed to be the case. Using a little bit of mana, I triggered the enchanted I placed on the sword.

And as soon as I did, the sword turned alive.

Its enchantment layers literally jumping out of it, except for the core. The layers twisted, adjusted, and engulfed the runery, before finally connecting with it.

And god, it was beautiful.

No, not Kasivier, the arrangement of runes, the process was beautiful.

From the creation of runery to the merging process.

It was like was like watching was sci-fi movie, except it was very real.

So very real, cause all of it was happening under my mana’s, my attribute’s, direct control.

Magic clashed with magic, runery clashed with enchantment, generating colorful magical sparks before the runery finally ’clicked-in’, becoming a part of the sword.

The layers of runes going back into the sword, bestowing it with a hexa-colored glow.

’Done.’

"That was quite the spell..."

I heard. Turning my head to the side, I answered with a smile.

"Yes. Yes, it was. Also, Syrus go get Cana back."

I added.

"Oh, okay..."

Chugging a mental power potion right after, I weaved stacked accelerations as I waited.

Then to a complaining Cana who just came back and asked,

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"Was there really a need to call me?"

I simply replied.

"You’ll see."

And then, I disappeared.

-BOOOMMM!!

Leaving a shockwave in my wake.

My sword glowed green. Green of the wind element, a green which spread like a flame covering my entire body, as I drew my sword’s power through my armor.

The wind element boosting my speed, which was already in the supersonic region.

In an instant, I was there. In the middle of the rampaging monsters, a black color adding itself to my sword and armor.

Now being engulfed in the green-black-flames, I swung it.

My sword.

-SLASSSHHHHHH!!!!

The monsters were bisected. Hundreds of them, in an instant.

Each one carrying a clean cut, that then burst into black flames.

Not even leaving their bodies intact, as they fell on the ground not knowing how they died.

And that was just the start.

I swung my sword again. Using fire and earth, the green-black-flames changing into red-brown ones, as a crescent of the same color flew out of my sword.

A crescent that mummified all the beasts with earth, before the fire element heated them enough in a single second, to explode in a molten mess.

(A/N: Similar to Zhongli’s solidify in Genshin.)

Then came the next combination, water and darkness, a crafty spell that wasn’t actually a slash.

It would be better to call it wave, a crafty wave that engulfed you from the outside before letting the darkness in, and devouring you from the inside.

And then came another combination and another combination, and another...

And by the time I tried out all elemental combinations, minus light and darkness as I knew the disastrous result it would cause, I was out of enemies.

Yes, the seemingly endless monsters were curbed.

In five minutes, at most.

Leaving only dead bodies and upturned earth.

-BOOOMMM!!

Arriving in front of the waiting duo, which consisted of a silent Syrus and an open-mouthed Cana with another boom, I shortly informed them.

"I’ll go get Allen."

"Wait- we’ll come with you!"

Cana replied, to which I answered without arguing.

"Hmm, sure. If you can keep up, that is."

-BOOOMMMM!!

Before disappearing with another boom.

With my perception stronger than before, I activated [Mana Reading] again.

Once again, my eyes glowed lightly, strange tri-colored patterns litting up in them as their gaze penetrated the forest.

Looking for the slightest fluctuation of Mana.

Unfortunately, I didn’t find anything, no matter how hard I looked.

’Hmm, looks like whoever it was, they hid.’

’Well, not like I was relying on protagonist’s luck to find them. I’d rather rely on money.’

Taking out an artefact that looked like an pocket watch, I turned it on and scanned the whole forest with it.

After all, no matter how boosted my perception was, it couldn’t compare to an high-class artefact, at least not for a while.

The artefact beeped after a minute or so, as it projected the map of the whole forest, with the results of the scan written on it.

’Hm? Nothing?’

What? How?

We clearly fought the frenzied monsters, Allen is gone because of that strange energy, and most importantly I was infested by that energy myself.

’No way!!’

I suddenly thought as a certain possibility entered my mind. My thoughts chilling as I felt that possibility being the likeliest one.

’No fucking way!!’

My thoughts started spinning faster, faster with each step I took, faster as the possible outcomes churned in my head.

Making a me question.

-Don’t tell me what’s supposed to happen will happen?

I rejected that thought right away, almost instinctively.

But then I realized, the thought itself wasn’t true. I had already changed many lives, irreversibly so.

And that helped me calm down.

Quickly sorting out my thoughts.

I realized that I had no real way to actually find Allen or the perpetrator.

So, I asked myself a single question.

’This world is based on my creation, my book, right? So, if I had to place a villain in the middle of a forest, where would I place it?’

The answer of the question was so obvious, that I felt stupid for not doing this before.

’Of course, the center!’

I jumped up the next instant, casting an acceleration to go higher, higher than the canopy, higher than the treetops, going even higher till I could see the whole forest.

And as soon as I did, I couldn’t miss it, the gigantic tree standing tall in the center, far away from me.

Without wasting a second, I stacked accelerations two, five, seven, stopping at ten, feeling it as my extreme limit.

And then chugging a potion in advance, I passed through the magic circle, leaving a shockwave so loud, that it was akin to rumbling thunder.

-CRACCKKKK-!!

-BOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!!!

My bones broke, my skin tore, blood spurting out from several parts of my body. My body being held together only because I had my armor on.

The potion did its work though, mending, repairing, healing my broken body as quickly as possible.

It wasn’t quick enough though.

While breaking and mending, both the processes were taking place simultaneously in my body, the mending wasn’t quick enough.

Making it a losing battle, both for the potion and my body.

So, I boosted it.

My sword burst into a golden flame, which quickly spread to my armor, giving my control the over the light element, the extra edge it needed.

Channeling the light element to my fullest, I healed myself, boosting the potion’s effectiveness.

Bringing the battle into a stalemate.

’For now, this is enough!’

Ignoring the pain, I kept moving forward, casting a few more accelerations as soon as I started slowing down.

-CRACCKKKK-!!

-BOOOOOOOMMMMMMM!!!!!!

Causing the sky to rumble again.

I was there, almost there.

Getting closer and closer to the gigantic tree, with each passing second.

And as my wait came to a end, I saw it. The reason I couldn’t detect anything.

A barrier. A well-hidden barrier covering the entire area.

So well hidden, that my magical senses didn’t notice it till I entered it.

And as soon as I did, I felt it.

The eerie atmosphere.

The nauseating mana.

The mana tainted with demonic energy.

And the person who it belonged to.

There was no doubt about it. My worst had come true.

It was the Demonic Cult!!

Flipping myself in the air, I crashed into the tree trunk.

-BOOOMMMM!!!

Landing on it horizontally, a heavy killing intent hit me.

A killing intent of a killer who killed thousands for fun.

Confirming with a glance that Allen wasn’t here, I got into my stance.

There was no need to talk, her killing intent and surprisingly mine, did it for us.

So, with my legs bending, my eyes glowing, my heart racing.

The golden flame around my body condensing on my sword, as I slashed out.

With all my might.

Calling out the element, I needed the most-

-LIGGHHHTTTTTT!!!!!

-FLASSSSHHHHH!!!!