Evil Spirits were monsters that enjoyed harassing humans. They liked to engage in conversations humans saw as pointless, all to annoy humans, to savor their despair. Later on, mankind would call that 'good-for-nothing curiosity'.
"Don't you find it a little odd? I acted like I knew you were going to attack me from the start."
"..."
Tycon stopped in place, his 'good-for-nothing curiosity' kicking in. Evil Spirits enjoyed conversation.
"That's right. You were wary and fearful of me, like a little fawn. From the start."
I didn't retort, letting him think as he pleased. I needed a little time right now. With that time, I would make an opening.
"It's merely that I didn't trust you, just like you don't trust humans."
"Humans are distrustful creatures. It's not strange that you acted that way." Tycon came closer and closer. "And distrustful creatures…"
His voice suddenly increased in volume, shouting so loudly it made my ears ring.
"...should DIE!"
He raised his scythe. I stared directly at its cruel edge.
"You're not Charles' real owner."
The scythe froze. Tycon fixed me with his eyes. "It matters not. You'll die here anyway."
He lowered his weapon, as if to let me feel the fear of impending death. Of course, I wasn't scared in the least.
"After all," I continued, "it makes no sense that a higher being capable enough to have such a huge mansion is unable to find a single dog located on the 1st floor of a Korean server dungeon for no particular reason."
He gave Seohye a quest to find Charles.
"You gave Ahn Seohye a quest, but couldn't give me one. The quest you gave her must've been a fake, which means you're a being who lacks the authority to give out legitimate quests."
That wasn't all.
"You're set so that you cannot leave this place."
Among the countless Evil Spirits out there, Tycon was a Region-Bound Spirit tied to this mansion.
"Which is why you lured in a girl who harbors deep darkness within her heart."
The darkness within Seohye's heart was like an open door for this Evil Spirit. I knew Tycon would have wanted to make use of her.
"But I have a real quest asking me to find Charles' owner, you see."
Which meant, the 'real owner of Charles' was somewhere around here.
"You pretended to be looking for Charles."
Tycon knew about 'Charles' as well. He pretended to be looking for the dog. Why? Because there was something that could move the Evil Spirit. Because there was a lingering 'grievance' here.
"Who could the real owner of Charles be, I wonder?"
It wasn't Tycon.
"I'm guessing this mansion has a real master somewhere. One who has become much weaker, or who has already perished."
"You speak too much."
Before I knew it, Tycon was right in front of me. He raised his scythe.
"Where could that real owner be?"
If the original owner were really here, would this 'Evil Spirit' be able to run amok? The answer was a resounding 'no'.
"You want to hide that real owner. Why? Because you fear them."
And so,
"You swapped the portraits with your likeness."
Tycon changed the portraits, both of them, to hide the real owner's face. And for some reason, Seohye was able to see the true appearance of those portraits.
"But you know, if that owner were still alive, you wouldn't have been able to strut around like this."
Charles' owner was dead. At this point in time, I was sure of it. If they were alive, an Evil Spirit would have never been able to step foot within this mansion.
"You swapped out the portraits because you were scared to see their face even though they're already dead."
Tycon began to turn dark red, his scythe glowing with the same ominous . His voice echoed out grimly.
[You will find no peace, even in death.]
He raised his scythe again and made a wide swing towards me.
'Now, when he's making a wide swing.'
This was the right timing. The restraint he cast on me was dispelled from the beginning. My magic resistance was far higher than he thought.
[Using the special skill Flash Step.]
I moved towards the portraits. He wouldn't be able to get close to them, and even if he could, his movements and strength would be dulled. I knew that because all he could do was cover the portraits, not destroy them.
"You weasely little rat."
I knew the weaknesses of Evil Spirit monsters, of 'Region-Bound Spirits' specifically. It was recorded in the list of monster traits I compiled.
–A Region-Bound Spirit is a monster that wanders about, unable to leave the place it is bound to for some reason. There is always 'something' that ties it down.
It was highly likely that 'something' was a thing the Evil Spirit feared or was attached to.
–If that 'something' is destroyed, the Region-Bound Spirit will rapidly lose strength.
Knowing that, I drew my dagger, preparing to use the new innate ability I got through Isabel's innate authority, the fusion of Sword Path Tracing and Excellent Strike.
I was a little too far to destroy the 'something' completely with a mere dagger throw, but that was fine. Just like how Tycon had a 'grievance', I had something called 'will'. I couldn't do the Will Incantation, but I could achieve a focus close to it.
'Sword Path Tracing is an authority that creates paths.'
Make a path with Sword Path Tracing, and then…
'The will imbued in Excellent Strike shall pierce the portrait.'
Unfortunately, it wasn't a Will Incantation. I couldn't freely bring forth that power. But I had experienced the Will Incantation before and thus had a taste of how it worked, what I had to do to bring forth focus and power. It was only a taste, but that was enough.
'A path be made, the enemy be destroyed by my will."
Tracing.
Will.
Penetration.
Destruction.
I imbued the dagger with those four intents. It might not be the Will Incantation, but I knew this was part of the process to one day produce a complete Will Incantation. I believed it. I believed that a Sword of Insight slightly closer to perfection would materialize.
Whumpf–!
Tycon, who had closed in on me in no time, swung his weapon.
"Die! Die! Die! Die!"
But he had become markedly slower. He was definitely under the influence of the 'portrait'. I dodged him without much difficulty. I could see the trajectory of his swings. He was far slower and far weaker than before.
[Using the innate ability Sword of Insight.]
[The innate ability Eye of Perception is in effect.]
Eye of Perception.
My eye of 'intuition'.
Insight and intuition converged on one point, towards which I hurled the small dagger in my hand.
I heard a shriek.
"NOO!"
The dagger flew out like an arrow.
'This… is Sword of Insight.'
Sword Path Tracing applied to all sword-type items. I saw the precise trajectory of the dagger I threw. It shot forward towards an exact point as if compelled by an inexplicable force, humming with an energy far greater than a normal throw.
Isabel's innate authority had given me a great weapon.
My hand was still numb. A tingling feeling lingered.
'That feeling just now.'
The trajectory of that dagger, which hurtled forward with my will towards the portrait's weakest point that I had instantly ascertained, gave me a rush of exhilaration.
'Feels great.'
That exhilaration was close to ecstasy to me. I merely used a skill, but it felt like I unleashed an attack that fell within the realm of a true dagger technique.
Plunge!
The glowing blue dagger plunged into the portrait.
"GAAAAHHHH!"
Tycon dropped his scythe. His face began to melt.
"You underestimated Ahn Seohye."
He only saw the darkness within her. He only tried to make use of that darkness. He failed to recognize her 'Red Demon' talent.
"Ahn Seohye fundamentally doesn't trust men."
Her circumstances and environment made it so. I had no intention of faulting her for it. I would have been the same had it been me.
"But she listened obediently to you, came looking for you multiple times, and even got a quest from you? And she brought other men all the way here? Don't you think something's weird about that?"
Tycon's face stopped melting. The dagger embedded in the portrait was melted down as well. I wasn't able to completely destroy the portrait.
"Such a person specifically pointed it out to us. That there's a woman's portrait here."
In our eyes, it wasn't visible at all.
'She gave us a hint.'
It was possible that Seohye already knew Tycon was a 'fake', or that she had been planning a barrier in advance for her future protection. She turned this entire mansion into her domain. She had a class that could achieve such a feat, given sufficient time.
"Her class is one that cannot hunt normally, but it shines when a barrier is created after a long period of preparation."
That was what a Barrier Magician was. That was the Red Demon's ability.
"A person with such a class has already been here multiple times."
Tycon struggled to his feet, his face mostly melted.
"You don't need to get up."
The next instant, thousands of red lines wrapped around Tycon's body, like a moth caught in a spider's web.
"A Barrier Magician wielding red thread has already designated you as her prey."
The future Red Demon, the huntress who lured her prey and mercilessly finished them off, began to walk up from the 1st floor.
Her eyes glowing red, Ahn Seohye asked me a question.
"Since when have you known?"
"Hard to say."
There hadn't been a specific moment.
"Just along the way."
I couldn't really explain it any more than that. If I were to try, the only thing I could say was that this was the domain of 'talent'. The talent to see more than others when looking at the same things, to hear more than others when hearing the same things. I saw the path, the situation, and analyzed it.
Seohye's eyes glowed crimson red.
"..."
She looked exactly like the Red Demon I had seen in videos.
–When hunting her prey, when slaughtering humans, the Red Demon's eyes ominously grow red.
It was the same right now. The red thread wrapped around Tycon began to constrict.
"GAAAHHHH!"
He screamed. For this very moment, Ahn Seohye had likely invested a lot of time. It was a completely different concept from a regular raid. Her 'red threads' cut Tycon's body into little pieces.
['Evil Spirit - Tycon' has been killed.]
[EXP acquired.]
['Rapundel's Remains 1/2' acquired.]
"I have a special eye."
"...I am aware."
"I saw the darkness dwelling within you with that eye. Mm. It's a bit weird to call it darkness, but in any case, there was something black in your heart."
"..."
"So I judged it would be very easy for you to come in contact with an Evil Spirit monster."
I inferred this scenario based on many other things.
"And I judged that you wanted to hunt that Evil Spirit."
"..."
After a long moment of silence, Seohye finally spoke.
"You're amazing."
She wasn't being sarcastic. Seohye was sincerely amazed right now.
"It's kind of fascinating."
"What is?"
"I feel that it's okay… to trust you."
I shrugged. "You don't have to. All that's needed is that when a situation arises where we need to lend each other our strength like today, we use each other."
A relationship of you-use-me, I-use-you. In my estimation, that was the perfect relationship to have with the future Red Demon. Building trust was a task for later. Some day, when her heart opened a little more, it would be great if she could speak to me more casually instead of using stiff honorifics like 'sir'.
Sung-gu inched towards me, very carefully, very slowly. He opened his mouth uneasily.
"Hey. Buddy. Hyukjin."
He pretty much clung to me, his body shivering all over.
"What is that?" Sung-gu squeezed me tightly. "The portrait… is crying! FUCK!"
Tears of blood were dripping from the portrait's eyes.
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