HPV 27

Paronai took the lead.

He held a lantern borrowed from the village and moved carefully ahead.

Normally, in a situation where enemies could jump out at any moment, Banwes should have been leading.

Even though he was a half-blood, his physical toughness rivaled that of high-ranking beasts.

But of course, the current Banwes had no intention of taking on such a sacrificial role.

Yurichen, knowing it would be pointless, didn’t even bother to say anything to him.

“…Say something to make us feel better.”

Paronai, though calm and steady with the lantern, betrayed his anxiety with a low murmur.

He was worried about the missing bride.

No doubt, horrifying images kept replaying in his mind, shifting only in the details to torment him.

“You want me to help you relax?”

“Not exactly… just say anything.”

Penzey, who had been walking with his hands clasped behind his head, stretched his chest as if yawning.

His fluttering shadow danced along the cave walls.

“I’m twenty-eight this year. Feels like I spent four of those years in prison.”

Is that supposed to be reassuring?

Paronai muttered sourly, but his interest was piqued—he waited for Penzey to continue.

It was a rare chance to learn something about him, after all.

For all his seemingly careless attitude, Penzey wasn’t the type to brag about his past.

The real story the mage hides deep down… I’ll probably hear it later, once our journey’s gone further.

“The longest sentence was three years. The other year was bits and pieces here and there. The three-year sentence? That was for digging a hole through the Mage Tower. It was rough… Three years is enough time for a lot of pretty kids to come of age, you know…”

“I’m sure you didn’t just leave the hole alone. You must have gone in and out a hundred times. No wonder the High Mages were furious.”

“Old folks just have smaller hearts than a knothole, that’s all. Truth is, I had a lot of fans among the apprentices.

Think about it—punching a hole in the Mage Tower, which hadn’t changed a single stone since the first Tower Lord built it!

And the Tower didn’t even collapse!

Shows you how precise my planning and calculations were.

For a moment, I even fooled the eyes of the High Mages and the Tower Lord!”

Penzey said proudly that if he ever became the Tower Lord, he would make “punching a hole through the Tower” an official test for High Mage candidates.

He shouted so loudly the cave walls rang, and even I forgot the creeping fear for a while.

Yurichen had already given up trying to hold a serious conversation with him.

“Still, you’re not the Tower Lord, so you’d better not do what the High Mages told you not to. All the holes have been patched now anyway.”

“There’s still one left.”

Paronai stiffened and stopped walking for a moment.

“If that one gets found out, three years won’t be enough to cover the sentence…

I think the old man said if I dug one more, he’d grind me up and use me as fuel for the Tower…

But, well, I made that hole before he said that, so it’s fine, right?”

Now the warrior was the one growing nervous.

He was a straight-laced man who believed that just one interrogation by the guards would spell the end of his life.

“You know, now that you’ve heard this, you can’t leave the cave. I’ll have to kill you.”

Penzey jumped onto Paronai’s back, mock-choking him with his arms.

Paronai burst out laughing and playfully fought him off, swinging the lantern wildly.

The flickering light sent dizzy flashes dancing across the cave walls.

Had it not been for the shadowy mass that burst from the far side of the cave, covering the ceiling and swooping down at us, it could have been a lighthearted moment.

Clang!

Paronai’s sword struck the mass, and shock flashed across his face.

It had poured down like liquid, yet when the sword hit, it rang with a metallic clang.

It’s not a phantom.

It’s solid!

Everyone thought the same thing at once.

Yurichen, who had been about to channel his divine power, quickly realized it wouldn’t work against this opponent and retreated.

The dropped lantern rolled across the ground.

The slithering beast swelled monstrously, looking like it could engulf us all at any second.

Paronai swung his sword again and again, slashing the shapeless creature.

Even when it was split apart, it reformed immediately.

The clash of sword and monster grew fiercer, stirring up gusts that whipped our hair around.

Finally, the creature retreated, melting into the cave wall.

“It vanished into the wall!”

A wave of intense heat rolled toward us.

Paronai shut his mouth.

Penzey and had unleashed a torrent of fire magic.

A crimson circle blazed around his hands.

“Should I just bring the whole cave down?”

“Don’t! Reduce the power!”

I was a complete bystander in this fight.

There was nothing the spirit’s power could do, and honestly, they’d probably win without me anyway.

Beasts instinctively recognize the weakest prey.

That slithering, viscous beast was no exception.

In the game, the monster targeted Yurichen, who was the least capable in battle… but here, Penzey had saved him.

Without even an incantation, Penzey nailed a third-circle spell at incredible speed, without so much as singeing Yurichen’s hair.

Yurichen and I were standing a little apart.

I glanced down at his feet—and my heart dropped.

The monster was at my feet.

The ground beneath me had turned into a black, viscous puddle, as if it might swallow me whole.

I wasn’t a bystander.

I was now the undisputed weakest target.

Boom!

A burst of heat exploded underfoot.

“Missed a little.”

A thin trail of smoke curled from Penzey’s fingertips.

He apologized with a perfectly calm face, not even blinking.

I hadn’t been touched by the magic at all…

So why did he say he missed?

Then I sensed the huge presence beside me.

Banwes was crouched as if he’d tried to throw himself over me and then stopped.

The torn parts of his clothes revealed skin bubbling and charring from burns.

A horrible, crackling sound filled the air.

“Stay seated.”

Yurichen quickly approached and summoned divine power to his hands.

He tried to heal Banwes using the blessing of the gods.

But as soon as Yurichen’s hand touched him, the burned flesh started searing and blackening even faster.

Banwes gritted his teeth without a sound.

He remembered. Yurichen’s divine power didn’t work on Banwes. All it did was reaffirm the fact that Banwes was a half-blooded monster abandoned by the gods.

Even faster than Yurichen could pull his hand away, Banwes’s arm swept past Yurichen’s face.

Sharp, orc-like horns—four of them—had sprouted from Banwes’s fist. The veil was sliced at an angle, revealing his pale jawline. His lips remained tightly shut.

“I don’t think you didn’t know. You won’t deny that you deliberately screwed me over.”

Banwes spoke in a voice so low and heavy it felt like it pressed against your skin.

You couldn’t blame Yurichen. You couldn’t blame Banwes either. It was no one’s fault.

Yurichen prioritized the group’s survival over any disgust toward half-humans, half-monsters; he would never intentionally inflict harm. He simply hadn’t anticipated that the monster blood flowing through Banwes would be this strong.

“Banwes, don’t get mad.”

“Stay out of it. Before I sew your mouth shut.”

“Don’t take it out on someone else! If you’re mad, say you’re mad because I got you hurt!”

When facing someone strong enough to crush you without effort, the only way to keep them in check was to yell even louder, without fear.

Since there was no way to heal Banwes, avoiding his injuries had always been the number one priority in the game.

Humans had several types of abilities:

First, sword aura.

The purest form of human vitality, released through the medium of a sword when facing an enemy. It could be used with spears, arrows, or other weapons as well, but for unknown reasons, it resonated most powerfully with swords.

Second, mana.

Each human’s capacity differed, and mana served as the driving force for magic born of human desire and curiosity. It resembled the energies of monsters and demons. In theory, anything was possible with it, but actions deemed forbidden were strictly controlled and labeled as black magic.

Third, divine power.

Through genuine humility and the renunciation of personal strength, humans ascended to the highest ranks of agents who could command the soul.

Recently, a fourth ability had been discovered:

Fourth, spirit power.

In full, the power of spirits. It was energy drawn from nature, perhaps the most harmonious with the world, but it remained less researched than the others. The concept of affinity with spirits had yet to be fully defined.

The strength of spirit power was fixed regardless of personal effort or study, making it seem less noble. It was clearly inferior compared to the other abilities: its killing power was far weaker than sword aura, mana enabled stronger nature magic, and it lacked the sanctity and demon-banishing power of divine energy.

It was a well-organized setting, but after realizing I was trapped in the game, I had wondered—why was spirit power so underpowered?

Thinking back, maybe the fact that no playable characters had used spirit power also played a role. Since none of the main characters wielded it, it was naturally seen as inferior to make the protagonists shine brighter.

And now, I felt both uneasy and an inexplicable, swelling excitement.

Because I was going to break the original game to survive.

At first, I had thought this place was a man-made cave… but it turned out to be a true natural formation. It was simply undiscovered by herbalists.

“In that case, it’s my land.”

I placed both hands on Banwes’s injured shoulder.

An incomparable, dense, and radiant spirit energy spread from my palms.

The man’s eyes shook violently.

I was the only one who could heal Banwes.