(Ken POV)
"Ken!!!"
I heard Phil shouting from a distance as he witnessed my pained and bloody state.
Even when he wanted to help me, Phil was still busy in combat as he dodged a Dragon Flamethrower spewed from Alex's mouth.
Damn it!!!
I was caught off guard!!
Fuck, when did she inserted a tendril into the ground? Her magic came across to be capable of nimbler feats than I initially thought.
Crap, this bitch was not listed in the Red Book for nothing, and her Flee-on-sight order was definitely of no jest.
And I could literally taste my own blood as I began coughing them out from the brutality of the tendril attack that Erika committed.
By the Gods, a hole in the gut fucking hurt so much. I'm not sure if I can hold on for much longer. If it was not for the fortitude of my Dragon blood, then my life would be forfeited at this point around.
Erika noticed my bereaved and confused expression as she decided to enlightened me.
"Oh, Ken Bruce. My Dark Magic… Black Death, allows me to manipulate these tendrils and slimes and I can turn myself into one as well, as apparent by what you have seen earlier. Of course, my slimes are quite flexible that they can penetrate even the tiniest of gaps. The ground that we stand on is plenty with that, and your mistake was cutting my arm. I ordered it to turn into a slime and enter the ground below so it may impale you when you're completely open."
Son of a bitch, she completely had me!!
Yup, that magic of hers was a fucking cheat indeed. Every part of her is made of sticky slime and even when a body part is separated from her, it appeared that she's capable of manipulating it nonetheless.
Erika Aventus is the type of person who I can't exactly face at my current level.
I was confident because I had the Infinity magic within me, but my bravado most likely is going to cost me my life here.
I'm sorry Phil and Alex, for involving you two in this mess in the first place.
I'm sorry Miabi, I guess I could not avenge you. Erika is totally beyond my league.
And to you as well, Master. I guess I could not keep my promise of helping you against the shitty demon.
While I wanted to copy this Black Death magic of hers since I saw how powerful and incredibly useful it was, Vivian highly advised against it due to the horrendous nature of the magic itself.
During my unconsciousness from the past two weeks after my Magicka with Ana, Vivian has been teaching me some things about the nature of my new Infinity Magic. One of the lessons that she imparted to me was that whenever I learn or copy a magic, I would also assume all of its characteristics, including its strengths…
And also its drawbacks.
A good example was my Dragonus that I got from Ana. While I attained the legendary Dragon Fire, I also gained the Dragon's arrogance and rage as part of it.
Since Black Death was sinfully acquired through the ritual of sacrifice being done in the service of a Dark God, then Vivian speculated that such evil magic assumingly could twist a Mage's sense of morality, just like what was happening with Erika presently.
Master Vivian knew this because she experienced something similar in the past. During a battle, when she acquired a spell from a Warlock who made a deal with a Dark God, she almost loses her sanity as a result. While she came out from the fight victorious, the burden was too much to bear and not worth carrying, so she consulted the Seer of Jutland to forcefully remove the dark magic from her before it would completely take over her mind and reasoning.
Master was not sure if copying Black Death would yield the same results, but regardless, she does not want to risk it.
Her point was well-taken. At least when I die today, I would die as a Human (or Dragon) than be turned into something else like a repulsive slime creature who serves an evil Dark God.
Welp, I guess even the magic of Infinity had its shortcomings as well.
While I pondered over what I'm supposed to do at this lethal dilemma of mine, Erika decided to gloat in her triumph as she approached me with a cocky grin.
"Fufufu, did that hurt, Ken Bruce? Don't tell me that's all you've got? How boring, to think that the Magus of Infinity would fall like this in battle."
I remained silent and looked at her angrily. Even on the brink of death and unbearable pain, I don't want to give her the satisfaction of showing my defeated expression.
"Oh well, I supposed that's what you get when you Hero types would get mad over trivial things. Fufufu, seriously, who shows a stupid amount of concern over someone who they just met for a ridiculously short time? You knew Miabi for like what… a week or so?"
Her nasty words sparked something inside me and at this point, the silence was no longer an option as I decided to retort her back with as much willpower as I could muster even when under incredible injury.
"S-short time? Who gives a single crap about that? Even if it's only a week, a day, or even an hour, Miabi proved herself to be a good person and I would count herself among my friends if she were still alive. Time holds no significance whatsoever in determining the value of people's relationships with one another. For someone like you who demonstrates no value in human life…"
I eyed her with as much hate as I could gather and gripped her arm rather tightly as an indication of how vengeful I truly am. I also saw a sweat coming from her now nervous face, proving that I at least managed to scare her, even for a little bit.
"Your words mean nothing but shit."
Erika promptly recovered from her shock and begun laughing in an atrocious manner at how pitiful I currently look at her.
Yeah, I guess it's really funny, especially when a dying man like me desperately tried to act all cool and unyielding before his untimely demise.
I'm simply not giving her the gratification of me breaking down in front of her. Such was my nature as both Ken Bruce and a Dragon.
"Fufufu!!! Is that all you have to say, Ken Bruce? In case you haven't notice, I'm no longer human, so such trivial logic does not apply to me. Hmm, now that I think about it, you are not one too."
I denied her statement with all my heart and the thought of that prospect disturbed me.
"To the pits of Hellia with you, bitch. I'm human and not like you!!"
Erika chuckled in response and shook her head in amusement.
"Is that so? Fufu, but you are mistaken, Ken Bruce. The moment when you intermingled with the blood of the other race, a Dragon to be exact, was the moment when you ceased to consider yourself as human. In that aspect alone, you and I certainly share the same quality."
I wanted nothing more than to retort her statement, but she does have a point, no matter how much I hated it.
Before I could even contemplate more about her opinion, Erika's voice became more elated as she offered me-
"Join us, Ken Bruce. As someone who's not entirely human, why should we concern ourselves with their silly affairs? Both of us are something different and on an entirely new level, the apex of every species and race. With our magic, we would be the wolves among sheep, and no longer shall we fear and follow the constraints impose by humanity itself."
Ah, crap. This bitch sure had her way with her words, no doubt. If this were another power-hungry asshole like her, then they would instantly accept her offer without question.
By the hole in Arkadia's backside, it is because of these so-called constraints that humanity flourished and turned into the thriving society that we live in, differentiating us from the line between educated human beings and mindless beasts.
I respect the notion of Law and Order to a great extent, well, the good laws at least. If said laws are used to take advantage of the populace, then I won't hesitate to break them in a heartbeat.
Of course, it was not perfect, with corruption, crime, and mayhem still rampant in certain parts of the land.
Nonetheless, I won't allow this bitch to trample the efforts that our forefathers had achieve just so we can achieve the peace that we now live in!!
While the power-hungry was debatable, I'm not an asshole, to the ones who don't deserve it at least. As a result, I raised my right hand and gestured the number three from my fingers.
"Three words, Erika… Go Fuck Yourself."
Subsequently, two fingers were let down, with the one finger on the middle remaining as a gesture of what I honestly think of this offer of hers.
This time, Erika's grin turn upside down as she was not amused by my act, just the way I like it.
She then cupped my chin and forcefully elevated my head to look directly at her.
"You know, the vulgarity of the words from your mouth is something that I find… quite distasteful. But no matter, it is something that can easily be remedied, right after you swear your complete allegiance to me, fufufu."
"Remedied? Allegiance? What nonsense are you spouting about?"
Her grin returned and she muttered the words that I can only presume to be another magic spell of hers.
"Black Death: Bridling Fealty."
Her other free hand suddenly transformed into a tendril as it shoved right in my mouth against my will.
Then, the last thing that I saw was the sheer satisfaction on Erika's face right before my world turned completely dark.