NOVEL WEB Chapter 173
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Defeating the plague doesn’t take too long, but it definitely feels longer than just casually watching. Yet, I can’t seem to tear my gaze away. As I start to devour it, I can’t help but let out some astonished gasps, which I had to painfully ignore by shutting my hearing off.
But I can’t blame their feelings either. After all, it was getting bigger. Though the wolf himself didn’t notice it, the sight of him growing as if absorbing the plague was nothing short of astonishing.
“Hmm…”
Aster couldn’t see past the patterns wrapping around the wolf’s exterior, but it wasn’t all for naught. He at least discovered that Marang’s race was termed ‘the devourer.’
Of course, knowing the race name doesn’t change a thing, especially since it was something he hadn’t even heard of before. But still, seeing the wolf grow bigger as it consumed the plague felt quite fitting for that name.
Yeah, but…
Hong Yu-ri, standing beside the reluctant Aster, scoffed coldly.
“Well, why make a fuss then?”
“……”
“Give up your life? Please. Just stop.”
I had plenty to say seeing her shake her head, but keeping my dignity intact was the best I could do by maintaining silence.
With a nod agreeing to give detailed explanations later, it was hard to believe, but it was none other than the Butterfly of Covenant who fought and vouched for Marang. I never even considered that I could win in the first place… Before long, the ominous Marang finally devoured the entire plague.
[Destruction Probability 84.15% → 60.63%]
[You have gained 23.52% of the devourer’s essence]
A drastically lowered destruction probability. The system’s voice confirmed the plague’s death once more. The creature’s monstrosity echoed through my ears with those annoying system messages while I first checked the status.
[Ominous Marang (Devourer) Lv.44]
[EXP 2321601 / 2798452]
[Essence 28.27%] [Shadow Volume 141.37m³]
[Length 8.62m] [Height 3.37m] [Weight 3.32t]
[Strength 432] [Agility 471] [Endurance 521] [Magic Power 589] [Tenacity 50]
First, the status had increased drastically… Without noticing, my tenacity had risen from 30 to 50. Was it due to the Butterfly of Covenant? Or was it because I was pushed to the brink of death by the green mist? Either way, it was promising news that my tenacity went up.
When my eyes reluctantly settled on the experience points, I let out a long sigh. The experience points just kept climbing endlessly. Back at level 28, it was a mere 1.47 million, and now at level 44, it soared to 2.8 million with a steep curve.
And yet, I jumped straight from level 31 to 44. The conditions for achievement had to have involved the plague. The experience points it granted were absurd, which was somewhat comforting… But seeing that it didn’t stop at level 40 but hit level 44 made me think that the next evolution might top out at level 50.
Of course, I could only guess about the evolution. I’d need to have a talk with the system about that. If the current pace continued, the essence consumed would need to increase tenfold to 100%. That was impossible. Maybe… other factors were needed, or at worst, there could be no evolution at all.
Anyway, defeating the plague granted me 23.52% of essence. I had gained more in one fell swoop than all I had accumulated so far. But that wasn’t surprising. It was one of the greatest calamities leading humanity to ruin.
To begin with, the destruction probability didn’t mean eliminating all threats to humanity. What Dan Se-hyeok, the protagonist of the original story, now a persona of the system, said was to reduce humanity’s destruction to the extent that he did. No matter the method, it meant contributing just as much as he did in a world without him. Therefore, the only way to lower the destruction probability depended on the wolf’s actions, not others’.
In the original, Dan Se-hyeok defeated diseases and plagues, targeting Neverland before cornering the outlaws of the heresy. He couldn’t defeat the purple black tiger or the sea disaster, and he only vaguely guessed the identity of the Master of All Things. Everything Dan Se-hyeok achieved stood at the core of the 100% destruction probability.
Anyway, as the queen said, ruin and doom are separate. At least by this point in time, many more dungeons had been conquered. The essence accumulated seemed reasonable enough.
“……”
With those thoughts concluded, the wolf surveyed the surroundings. Gazes scrutinized him in awkward silence. I understood their feelings, but since I had defeated the plague, shouldn’t I be a bit happier? This whole situation felt unnecessarily uncomfortable.
“Kyuuwuu!!”
A fairy, perhaps waiting for the meal to finish, rushed forward. As the fairy approached, the Fairy-type Monsters came close, acting all cutesy.
“Wow…”
Baek So-yul seemed a bit taken aback, covering her mouth in surprise. Not because of her own awkwardness, but because her eye level was different now.
“…You’ve gotten big.”
Baek So-yul, standing on her tiptoes, barely touched the wolf’s lower jaw. As he lowered his head, she seemed a bit more at ease and lowered back down.
Only after gazing at Baek So-yul did it finally hit me just how massive I had become. Being 8 meters long and over 3 meters tall meant I was bigger than most elephants now.
And I still hadn’t even hit level 50 yet. If there’s another evolution, I wonder how much bigger I could get.
It was different from the time of the blasphemer. I could always replenish the magic power consumed through transformation. I didn’t really have to worry about my size now.
As the wolf was surrounded by the fairy creatures, his gaze shifted.
The Mages—the Square Masters were approaching.
***
The Red Sage. Winter’s Master. Master of North Wind. Butterfly of Covenant… The wolf nodded in relief upon seeing their faces while noting that the Master of All Things hadn’t arrived, and thus the conversation amongst Marang and the Square Masters commenced.
Even though it was called a conversation, it was almost a one-sided affair. The wolf didn’t have many questions at this point, so most of the inquiries came from the mages. However, they were obviously of like mind since they expected cooperation in hunting down the plague, so they didn’t ask any borderline questions. Similar to what Kang Tae-jun had asked before. And the answers were also similar, nothing new to mention.
“The outlaws of heresy…”
At the murmur mixed with a sigh, the wolf nodded. Given that there had already been matters concerning Anela and Agail, the Square Master would surely be somewhat aware.
“That’s surprising…”
Aster let out a hollow laugh. It wasn’t easy to believe, but he couldn’t discount Hong Yu-ri’s words either since they had spent time together in the dawn. Plus, the Butterfly of Covenant backed the wolf’s words. Most importantly, Marang, whom he had directly conversed with, emanated an undeniable ominousness, yet somehow felt distant from malice and carried a sense of intelligence in his words.
“…Hmm.”
Understanding why his student reacted that way, Aster splashed his face with water, realizing how absurd it must have seemed when he had babbled on about sacrificing lives. Perhaps they might have even thought he had lost his marbles.
A wave of embarrassment hit him again, but the training he had accumulated as a mage saved his dignity just in time.
Once the discussion concluded, naturally, it turned to the existence of the Fantasy World—Baek Rok and the dragons—but the wolf dismissed that question, insisting that those who came to help him were there for that reason.
It wasn’t because he wanted to conceal the existence of the Fantasy World, but rather because it would be rude to say anything carelessly in front of Baek Rok. As he watched Baek Rok and the mages beginning their discussion, the wolf checked his skills.
[Skill List]
[A] – Intimidation ↑ (2)
[B] – Storm, Devour ↑ (6)
[C] – Super Sensation, Clairvoyance ↑ (8)
[D] – Poison Resistance ↑ (10)
[E] – Weak Sixth Sense (3)
[F] – Fairy Language (1)
[Remaining Skill Points 15]
With Intimidation and Black Magic merging into Intimidation, the total variety of skills had decreased, but that didn’t matter as long as the skills themselves didn’t disappear.
The skill that had grown the most was Poison Resistance, which had skyrocketed from early E rank to D rank all at once. But considering that the adversary was none other than the plague, its rise in Poison Resistance was somewhat expected, especially since it had been pushed to the brink of death by the Plague God.
As I was momentarily watching, Hong Yu-ri approached… and the wolf frowned at her.
“…Why? Did something get on my face?”
Hong Yu-ri suspiciously pointed to her face. The wolf shook his head dismissively, but Baek So-yul tilted her head, having noticed the wolf’s expression seem to stiffen for a moment.
[Hong Yu-ri (In Transformation)]
—Of course, it made sense that her race, meant to be classified as human, was undergoing a change.
***
The conversation came to a close. I requested that they keep quiet about the Fantasy World as best as they could, and they nodded their heads in agreement. Naturally, while many mages had witnessed it, it was unlikely the story wouldn’t leak out at all, but I hoped it wouldn’t spread too far. It may not be easy, but since I’d already said it, at least they would make the effort.
“Then…”
Much-needed discussion about dealing with the plague ensued. Although they agreed to conceal their appearances, this would now allow them formal access to the Square.
You might say, what’s formal about concealing one’s appearance? But I understood the circumstances regarding that. The wolf himself was loath to reveal his true self in front of people.
Now, he instilled a primal fear due to the identity and title of Marang, without needing to use intimidation. Of course, there were individual differences, but recalling that even Dorothy, the heir of Red Square, had collapsed, it seemed right not to reveal his true self unless absolutely necessary.
“Shall we begin?”
At Baek Rok’s words, the wolf nodded. …He had conversed with the mages, but the work wasn’t done yet. To be precise, the Fairy-type Monsters’ mission was just about to kick off.
They had not called on them to simply fend off the Swarm of the Plague. Here in Iran, right up to the western edge of Europe, they merely hoped for the Fantasy World creatures to devour the remnants left behind by the plague that had succumbed Europe to ruin.
In that sense, the work of the Fairy-type Monsters was just beginning. It was unclear how long it would take to cleanse the contamination caused by the plague, but it couldn’t be left as it was.
Of course, the danger of the disease still lingering was a concern, but these were Fairy-type Monsters that could move to the Fantasy World at any moment, coupled with the ancient dragons, so I didn’t anticipate any truly perilous moments.
Ideally, I wanted to deal with the disease right now, but now that the plague had disappeared, I had to watch how it would manifest. If it were to hide completely underground, it would become impossible to capture it.
As for immediate matters, it was more pressing to deal with Hong Yu-ri. The transformation of her race was likely due to Dragon Blood. Handling that was my top priority.
The transformation of one’s race wasn’t a breeze to accept. They might start casual, but sooner or later, the reality would hit them. Would they still be able to remain calm when that time came? I knew better than anyone how challenging that would be. Of course, I would try to prevent it as much as possible… but stopping the transformation couldn’t be easy. The wolf let out a short sigh.
If things were to progress this way, maybe it would have been better not to give her the Dragon Blood. I thought she’d manage on her own, but it seemed like a spark of rivalry with Dorothy had ignited.
Naturally, memories of Dorothy from the Butterfly Castle came to mind. The heir of the Red Square with immense magic power that Hong Yu-ri lacked… Yeah. Last time, Dorothy was placed exactly at this distance from me…
“…?!”
Did I get a boost in magic power? Or was it something else? For some reason, the moment our eyes met, the wolf let out a sigh.
Considering Hong Yu-ri, I thought she would surely faint, but surprisingly, Dorothy displayed a boldness as she passed by, which impressed the wolf. Did the heir of the Square truly deserve that title?
…That was as far as the admiration went.
As soon as she passed the wolf, something seemed to crumble and fall like it was sinking. Naturally, all eyes were drawn, and only Aster could breathe a sigh of relief. Of course, he felt a tinge of regret about his student, but at least it seemed to ease his own embarrassment a bit. He coughed awkwardly.
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