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Chapter 202

Snap—

The upper part of the mass completely split open, and a dazzling flash spread from within almost simultaneously.

Boom—

A massive pillar of fire burst forth, engulfing not only the surface of the mass but also everything contained within it.

Rumble—

The explosion, which painted the interior white, soared to the ceiling. Countless fragments scattered in all directions like fireworks coloring the night sky. Ian closed his eyes tightly as the explosion flung him away, his vision completely paralyzed. The blue force field enveloped his entire body. Though it was a half-beat late, it was still meaningful.

Crash—

Encased in the force field, Ian skipped across the floor like a stone and crashed.

The sensation against his back differed slightly from that of a wall. It was an unpleasantly crushing hardness. Reflexively, Ian switched his grip on the black sword and thrust it forcefully behind him.

"Screech—"

With a creepy sensation, a scream almost akin to an insect\'s cry erupted. Ian swung the sword until it made a full circle, and only after he no longer felt any resistance did he finally stand up as the bisected preacher fell with a sticky sound.

Rumble...

Ian felt the heat covering the ceiling dissipate. The explosion could have easily brought down the building. However, only the acrid smoke, heat, and vibration could be felt; the roof did not collapse at all.

Flap, flap—

Instead, the sound of flapping wings filled the air. Despite his lack of sight, Ian could sense hundreds and thousands of fireballs adorning the surroundings. He felt each one imbued with the power of the void.

"Truly an amazing spell...."

A low, cracked voice pierced Ian\'s ears immediately afterward.

What\'s this? Aren\'t you dead?

As Ian heightened his senses and furrowed his brow, the raspy voice of Stephan, as if he had swallowed a lot of smoke, spread again.

"But in the end, it is merely the futile struggle of a mortal... Decay and disease are part of a grand cycle, and so is death... Becoming one with the cycle is immortality...! Behold...! The great swarm! The infinite wave of mycelium is reborn even in death...!"

Amid the cracked and overturned voice, the sound of things shattering against the force field continued like hail. Ian once again slightly moved his left arm, generating the Magic Force Field, and opened his previously closed eyes. His vision, which had turned white, was gradually returning.

"The greedy descendants who desire only the cycle have descended upon this land... This is a sign of catastrophe and a beginning for mortals, but a blessing of immortality for the descendants of the cycle... You cannot stop it, mage. The ring of the cycle has already begun to connect, and this is just the beginning and a part of it—"

Jeez, you sure talk a lot, bastard.

Even as he thought, the sound of wings flapping in the smoke swirled chaotically around him.

Crunch, crack—

The sound that was scratching his eardrums continued relentlessly, accompanied by strange cries, both large and small. They were the screams of the evangelists of the cycle. Even as they exhaled painful breaths, Stephan\'s voice rose louder.

"Fear not, my sons! This is also part of the cycle...! In the end, the Great Father will awaken on this land and embrace all things...! I... I rejoice with all my heart...!" His voice mixed with screams.

As Ian lightly shook his head, his gaze finally fixed on one spot. In the center of his returning vision, a quest window had appeared.

[Mycelium of Infinite Greed.]

Mycelium...?

Frowning, Ian closed the window and turned toward the direction of Stephan\'s voice. Beyond the crumbling blue force field, countless fireballs flew into view, resembling locusts but grotesquely large, each the size of a forearm. They flew around ablaze, leaving the ground littered with their charred remains. Amidst them, smaller ones wriggled out, devouring the remnants and growing again.

The cycle\'s evangelists were the same, their bodies covered in mycelium. The sound that scratched Ian\'s eardrums came from these creatures gnawing at the evangelists with sharp jaws in all directions.

Are they capable of infinite reproduction or something?

Ian thought as his gaze, lost in contemplation, finally settled on Stephan, who was being gnawed by the mycelium. The half Ian had cut off was burned away, leaving only the vertically split half. Even that wasn\'t intact. Only the lower part of his chest, part of his torso, and half of his face with clear burn marks remained twitching.

And he, too, was being gnawed by the mycelium.

Ian leaped, gripping his sword. The black blade, now emitting a purple haze again, slashed through one mycelium body. With a sensation of slicing through a very hard shell, the mycelium body split in half. Inside, there were no intestines—only the same yellowish, smooth cross-section as its exterior.

This makes me want to puke in another way.

Ian\'s frown deepened, and his eyes turned red. He cut through another mycelium, and around him, Dancing Flames sprung up one after another. The flames, as soon as they formed, fell to the ground.

The flames caught and burned away the new mycelium that bubbled out from the cut sections.

Boom, boom, boom—

Explosions continued behind Ian as he ran.

With an expression of either pain or ecstasy, Stephan shouted. "I... I will return to being part of the cycle and be reborn... reborn beside the Father...!"

Crack! Crunch—

Ian, who had reached Stephan, swung his sword repeatedly. Ian sliced apart three mycelium that had almost devoured Stephan\'s body, causing them to tumble down. As the parts that touched the haze melted into blackness, Ian extended his left hand.

Whoosh—

The flames emanating from his palm burned the cross-sections of the mycelium. Without even glancing at the burning mycelium flying around, Ian looked down at Stephan\'s remaining half-head.

"Who said you could return?"

"...?!"

"Watch from there as you die. I\'ll turn all these locusts into roasted meat."

With a rough breath, Ian\'s eyes had turned crimson again. Stephan, briefly widening his one remaining eye, looked up at him. He noticed the bloodshot eyes and the nosebleed dripping from Ian\'s nose, and a startled smile appeared on his lips.

"You weren\'t just an ordinary mage...! You belong to the void as well! Whose will you represent...? The Chaos of the Abyss...? The Dreaming End? Or perhaps, the Lustful–-"

Crack!

Ian stomped down hard on Stephan\'s large lower jaw, shattering it. He stared into the creature\'s eyes.

"Shut up. My head\'s ringing."

As if I care about any of those fancy titles, he thought, turning away.

The mycelium moved and flew around like insects, which puzzled him. But one thing was clear: infinite didn\'t just mean greed.

Despite hundreds being burned, and many more turned to ashes by the explosion, countless more remained.

Crunch, crack—

The sound of creatures emerging from the ashes was loud and clear. There were already hundreds, if not more.

Infinite arm-sized bugs. Just what I needed.

But that wasn\'t all. On the platform, a massive lump was forming, made up of hundreds of intertwined mycelium. More creatures flew out from within it. If left unchecked, they would keep multiplying endlessly, eventually filling not just the sanctuary but the entire church. They would probably gnaw through the barrier and fly out afterward. That would spell disaster for the entire west.

But why don\'t I remember seeing these things in the game...

The answer came to him almost simultaneously with the question. The name of the quest he had received before held the answer.

[The result of failure.]

These creatures were the result of a failed ritual. If the ritual had succeeded, a completely different, possibly even more horrifying entity would have manifested. But that didn\'t matter now. What mattered was stopping their multiplication. That was also the content of the quest he had just received. Fortunately, he didn\'t have to think too deeply about what to do.

Crunch, crack—

Sensing the ominous accumulation of magic, the mycelium creatures, which had been soaring in groups, all turned their direction simultaneously. In an instant, yellow bugs filled Ian\'s vision. The sight made him understand why locust swarms were considered a natural disaster.

... Now seems like the right moment to use Hellfire.

Thinking this, Ian extended his black sword, now glowing bright yellow.

Rumble—

What poured out from the sword was the Flame Tide. Unfortunately, he had consumed too much mana to use Hellfire, the high-level red magic he had first learned. Advanced-level magic required an enormous amount of Mana, befitting its name.

Boom—

But he didn\'t intend to use just the Flame Tide alone. There was another advanced magic he had recently learned. Ian\'s eyes, still burning red, flashed again right after he unleashed the wave of fire. The blade of his outstretched sword rippled greatly.

Boom! Boom, boom!

On top of the wave of fire that burned the mycelium, irregular explosions of varying sizes erupted. It was the Chain Explosion. This high-level red magic, which would normally create random pinpoint explosions over a wide area, combined with the Flame Tide to create a scene where lava seemed to erupt from all over. Ian, who had consumed a vast amount of Mana at once, staggered momentarily.

Boom! Rumble—

The mycelium caught in the explosions and fiery torrents melted and crumbled helplessly.

"Hah... hah...."

Ian steadied himself immediately afterward, catching his breath. The Flame Tide spread and the uncontrollable pillars of fire exploded everywhere. His eyes, watching the mycelium that still survived and came rushing at him, soon glowed with a violet-tinted gray. Wind enveloped his entire body as it swirled around him, and Ian dashed forward again.

Swish—

He moved with the speed of a freshly released arrow. The mycelium creatures were upon him in an instant. The extreme tension made his nerves feel like they were overheating. His black sword, greedily devouring chaos power, lashed out.

The blade\'s trajectory traced an infinite spiral as it swept through, slicing the creatures into countless fragments almost instantaneously.

The trance-like sword strikes that had shattered the vampire minions were being re-enacted. Though not as strong and fast as back then, the black sword was much lighter than the Legion Commander\'s Greatsword. Moreover, the wind enveloping his entire body assisted his movements, making them even swifter.

Crack, crack, crack—

As he advanced, destroying everything in his path, Ian felt as if the black sword was pulling his arm along. The mad sword, obsessed with slaughter, clearly enjoyed creating countless deaths. It had no intention of stopping, even if its blade broke or its wielder\'s body crumbled. It would persist to the end.

Ian didn\'t try to control such a weapon. Instead, he gave himself over to its will. At this moment, there were only things to kill all around. The black sword felt like an extension of his body, manifesting the stat bonuses.

Boom! Rumble—

The wave of fire that had been spreading was now right in front of him. Ignoring the explosion erupting next to him, Ian willingly plunged into the Flame Tide. The Wind Blade swirling around his body absorbed the flames.

Ian, once again casting Wind Blade infused with chaos power, continued his relentless charge. Each breath felt like it was burning him from the inside, but he did not stop.

Crunch, crack—

The platform wasn\'t far now. Suddenly, the wings of the massive lump on it started flapping in unison. The creatures were endlessly being born somewhere inside, intertwining with their kin and flying out.

So, the source of the multiplication must be right in the middle.

The shard of chaos seemed to confirm his hypothesis with its resonance.

Rumble—

The preceding Flame Tide collided with the surface of the mycelium mass. Those caught in it burned black.

Boom!

A bright yellow explosion blasted parts of the mass in all directions. Ian, engulfed in flames, leaped into the center where the burning, fragmented mycelium creatures were falling.