Chapter 561: Jane

Ugh…

The moment Jane saw the figure emerging from the blackened lake, she felt a wave of disgust that sent chills down her spine.

This reaction was rather unusual for someone like her who grew up in the Sisterhood seeing all sorts of things.

However, after getting a closer look at the figure, it was easy to understand.

It had the body of a human but a fish’s head, causing a fundamental sense of revulsion.

Jane’s reaction was completely natural.

Of course, Oliver also reacted, though differently than Jane.

“W-What is that?”

Jane clenched onto Oliver, forgetting the good mood from just moments ago, as she asked.

“It’s Fen’s creature,” Oliver replied.

“Fen? Do you mean the Fen that I know?”

“Indeed, if you’re referring to Fen, the Black Hand’s Finger, the Eternal Child.”

In contrast to Jane’s voice, Oliver replied in a calm, collected tone.

But Oliver wasn’t completely calm—doubts began to arise in his mind.

He had encountered Fen’s creatures in the New Continent many times, but this one was different.

The creatures he had seen before were indeed creepy, but they also had a certain child-like, innocent aspect. However, that was not the case now.

The creepy elements were more pronounced and grotesque. It was as if the creature had leapt from a fairy tale to a horror story.

It may seem like a minor change, but considering the nature of conjuring-type black magic, it wasn’t.

Conjuring-type black magic is one of the most complex and difficult kinds, heavily reflecting the temperament of the practitioner. It’s not something that can be easily changed.

That the creature had changed meant that, for better or worse, Fen had also undergone significant changes, and so had the variables involved.

‘Come to think of it, given that he’s been in contact with a demon… is this aura surrounding us also the result of that influence?’

As Oliver recalled the events in the New Continent, he noticed the black magic aura encircling them in a ring.

It was similar to, yet different from, the aura in the Sleeping Forest. It was closing in from the outside, surrounding the villa as if to prevent them from escaping.

The scale and structure of the magic were considerable; caught up in his conversation with Jane, Oliver had noticed it a step too late.

It seemed as though they were entirely serious, and Oliver wondered if he could seize control with his pure black magic skills.

“…!”

In the brief moment it took for Oliver to assess the situation, a fish-man—its arm crushed—lunged at him with its webbed hand.

The hand, covered in spiky nails and scales, was practically a weapon, but it was slower than expected. Oliver, with his battle-honed reflexes, easily responded.

[Hate Bullet]

The emotion drawn in his outstretched hand rapidly transformed into a bullet. It shot forward faster than the speed of sound, piercing the fish-man’s broad forehead.

Thud!

A moist, splashing sound echoed as if something had ruptured, leaving a large hole behind.

The fish-man fell backward, creating ripples in the water.

Jane sighed in relief, but it was a bit too soon.

“It’s not over yet,” Oliver said.

“…It doesn’t seem that way,” Jane replied.

Though momentarily overtaken by fear and disgust, Jane pulled herself together and observed the dozens of figures approaching along the lake’s walkway.

Shadows the size of humans were closing in from beneath the water, moving like crocodiles stalking their prey.

Realizing she was a hindrance clinging to Oliver, Jane mustered her courage and stood beside him.

She knew she needed protection, but she was determined not to be a burden.

Reading Jane’s emotions with his Warlock’s Eye, Oliver didn’t say anything but unleashed a barrage of Bullets of Hatred at the approaching fish-men beneath the lake’s surface.

Bullets specifically designed to maintain their power even underwater.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

The Hate Bullets fired like a machine gun, creating dozens of water columns and a loud noise.

Most of the fish-men targeted were torn apart underwater, their bodies ripped apart by the bullets. However, a few sensed the danger and scattered, quickly resurfacing and letting out a loud scream aimed at Oliver.

It was a shockwave attack carrying physical force.

Oliver countered immediately.

[Out Cry]

The emotion processed in Oliver’s hand transformed into dozens of enraged faces that screamed forward in fury.

The two shockwaves collided, seemingly canceling each other out, but Oliver’s Out Cry increased in strength, pushing back the shockwave sent by the fish-men, delivering a hit.

It didn’t destroy the fish-men, but it shook their brains and organs, paralyzing them temporarily, giving Oliver enough time to pour Bullets of Hatred into their heads, creating holes.

Screeeeech!!

As Oliver aimed his finger like a gun, ready to shoot, a horrifying sound—a blend of a woman’s scream and a raptor’s cry—suddenly resounded from the sky.

It came from a Monster Bird with a woman’s face, insect wings, and a bird’s body—Fen’s creature, which Oliver recognized from a previous encounter.

The creature had waited and now joined the fray, specifically targeting Oliver, which was, at least, somewhat fortunate.

‘At first, I thought it was trying to capture Miss Jane, but maybe I was wrong?’

Meanwhile, the Monster Bird swiftly approached Oliver from behind, but Oliver didn’t turn around and continued to focus on the remaining fish-men.

“Minion.”

Minion flew out of Oliver’s arms, moved behind him with its peculiar movements, and fired a compressed Bullet of Hatred at the approaching Monster Bird.

Splat! Thud!

A wet, heavy sound echoed as the Monster Bird lost one of its shoulders, and at the same time, holes appeared in the heads of dozens of fish-men closing in on Oliver.

With minimal use of advanced techniques, Oliver had easily handled the surrounding threats with basic black magic and skill.

His actions were clean, almost artistic.

But true to form, Oliver didn’t linger in his success and immediately turned his attention to the next task.

He carefully moved Jane, who was standing beside him, back to safety. Then he swung his Quarterstaff, severing the neck of the still-breathing Monster Bird.

Caw!

The Monster Bird let out a short death cry and crumbled to dust.

All of this happened within a minute. But it wasn’t over yet.

“For now, we should escape from here,” Oliver said as he watched the numerous fish-men swarming towards them.

Although Oliver had killed dozens, the fish-men’s numbers didn’t decrease.

The lake was teeming with hundreds, if not thousands, of fish-men.

Many were approaching, while the rest dug into the ground around the lake, expanding the body of water.

It was unclear what they intended, but it was better to escape than to fight in these conditions.

Fen’s strategy always involved overwhelming numbers using his creatures—there was no reason to cater to it.

Jane, understanding the situation, agreed with Oliver’s suggestion without objection.

“That seems like a good idea. Let’s head to the villa.”

Oliver nodded, then manipulated his Black Suit to fit onto his legs, scooped Jane into his arms, and leaped off the walkway.

The walkway’s planks shattered as they propelled themselves away from the lake in an instant.

The fish-men, frustrated at missing Oliver, let out eerie cries before diving back into the lake, joining the others in dredging the surrounding soil.

It was as if they were expanding their territory.

***

‘Their speed is impressive,’ Oliver thought, having leapt a few times from the lake’s walkway to the villa hosting the party.

The speed he was impressed by was none other than the rate of expansion of the black magic domain Fen had created. Earlier, it had only surrounded the area, and he had thought it would take time for it to completely engulf the place, yet it had already significantly encroached.

It was a twisted atmosphere, similar to the Sleeping Beauty’s curse but also different.

The once calm surroundings were now distorted,

with massive creatures attacking the villa.

“What the hell is going on?! Where did these monsters come from?!”

“Aaaaargh!! Fuck you!!”

“Stay alert! There are a lot of them!!”

The villa’s guards, brought in by the nobles, shouted as they tried to stop Fen’s creatures.

There were quite a few of them, and they were much more skilled than Oliver expected.

Those armed with melee weapons formed defensive formations to slow down the creatures, while the gunners and wizards in the back provided support fire.

It was a basic yet effective tactic.

Considering that the party attendees were the upper echelons of society, their level was indeed exceptional.

However, their opponent was Fen, a Finger of the Black Hand.

And among the ordinary creatures, something far more menacing appeared.

“Screeeeam!”

A massive stag with branch-like horns emerged from the woods surrounding the villa. It walked upright on two legs.

Its body was covered in frost, with signs of decay, like a frozen corpse.

In fact, the stag gave off a foul stench of rot, and even a barrage of machine-gunfire couldn’t faze it.

Just then, a wizard’s fireball struck the stag, engulfing it in flames.

The fire was enough to turn most organic beings to ash in seconds, but before they could even celebrate, a snowstorm swirled around the stag, extinguishing the flames.

Then it let out a strange, high-pitched cry and exhaled a breath mixed with cold and disease.

The elements from both magic and black magic combined,

with the breath working like a potent toxic combo. It chilled and rotted the very ground, spreading towards the guards.

That’s when it happened. A yellow light unique to Holy Power spread from inside the villa, cleansing the cursed breath while also attempting to burn away the creatures.

“Screeeeech!!”

The creatures wailed in pain, but the injuries were only minor burns.

It was not unexpected.

Normally, Black-Hand-created creatures, like those made with black magic, would be wiped out by Holy Power. But Fen’s creatures had a certain resistance, in part because their bodies and souls were crafted from human materials.

Oliver wasn’t particularly surprised, as he had already learned this from experience.

What surprised him was the calmness of the Holy Knights despite this outcome.

It was odd that they didn’t seem disturbed even when their overwhelmingly superior Holy Power had little effect. It was as if they had expected this, as if they had a backup plan.

Fortunately, Oliver’s curiosity was shortly resolved.

One of the Holy Knights came out, wielding a heavy Gatling gun in one hand.

The scene felt strangely familiar.

As the knight pulled the trigger, yellow bullets imbued with Holy Power rained down like a storm, shredding the creatures approaching the villa.

Ratatatatata!!

Even Fen’s creatures, who had shown some resistance to broad Holy Power attacks, could not withstand the combined force of concentrated Holy Power and physical bullets. Their bodies were riddled with holes.

Following that, the Holy Knights, equipped with melee weapons infused with Holy Power, slashed through the creatures with yellow light tracers in the air, quickly neutralizing the threat.

It was clear why these soldiers were called Holy Knights.

However…

“Is everything okay?” Jane asked Oliver quietly.

“Hmm?”

“Does everything seem alright to Dave? I don’t know much about combat,” Jane admitted.

Despite being shocked by the fish-men earlier, Jane had pulled herself together with iron will, trying to assess the situation objectively.

Her attitude was admirable, especially since it was difficult to maintain composure in such a scenario.

“There is an issue,” Oliver admitted.

“What is it?”

“It’s that they won’t be able to sustain this method for long. They’re simply compressing their power for greater effect, but it’s taxing. While powerful, they’ll eventually run out of stamina.”

“Fen must be aware of that,” Jane noted.

“He undoubtedly is. His specialty is area control and war of attrition through his creatures—unfortunately, this situation plays right into his strengths.”

“So holding out is difficult… Is there a way to turn the tide?” Jane inquired.

Oliver couldn’t immediately offer a clear answer to Jane’s question.

The best solution would be to seize control of the domain and dispel it altogether, but taking control of this space, a fusion of conjuring black magic, spatial magic, and barrier techniques, wasn’t an easy task for Oliver.

His struggle to locate the Princess within the Sleeping Forest served as an example.

He eventually succeeded in meeting the Princess after taking control of the forest’s domain, but that had been a trick, using his blood as a medium, not a pure display of his skills.

Although he could use the trick once again, Oliver was reluctant.

After all, his opponent was none other than Fen.

Although it wasn’t that the Sleeping Beauty was less skilled than Fen, Fen had made contact with a demon in the New Continent, introducing unknown variables.

Oliver, who had seen the overwhelming power of a demon, was even more hesitant.

He feared that if he used his blood, Fen might exploit it just like Theodore, the Grandmaster of the Life School, had.

There was too little information and too many uncertainties.

After some thought, Oliver decided to be honest.

“There is one way to escape,” he said.

“What is it?” Jane asked.

“We could head to the edge of the space and create a crack in the domain, escaping unnoticed.”

“There’s an edge?” Jane repeated.

“Yes. They can distort space and perception to make it feel larger than it actually is, but there is always an edge. While it’s difficult to seize full control, it should be possible to disrupt the domain enough at the edge to create an escape route.”

“That sounds promising,” Jane acknowledged.

“The problem is, this method won’t allow us to save many people,” Oliver added.

“… How many could we save?” Jane asked.

“Including myself, only two. I would have to carry one person and quickly move to the edge before Fen notices,” Oliver explained.

Indeed, Oliver’s plan involved moving to the domain’s edge as quickly as possible, carrying one other person before Fen could react.

Even if he couldn’t fully take control of the domain, the knowledge he gained from the encounter with the Sleeping Beauty, along with the experience of seizing control, would allow him to create enough chaos unnoticed.

With a small group, it might be possible to make a quick, clean getaway.

But things would become complicated with larger numbers.

After finishing his explanation, Oliver asked, “If you wish, I could get Miss Jane out first.”

Jane hesitated for a moment but then shook her head.

“As much as I would like that, I’ve invested a bit in Gallos, so I don’t want to leave yet. Besides, if I were to run away alone from here, it would be bad for business.”

Jane made a joke, mixing bravado with sincerity.

“So, may I ask you a bold favor?” she asked.

“Of course,” Oliver replied.

“Is it possible to reach the edge faster if we use a vehicle or something like that?” Jane suggested.

“It might be possible if we try,” Oliver admitted.

“That’s a bit hopeful… Then the remaining issue is how to protect people during this monster onslaught. They’re barely managing to defend right now,” Jane remarked with concern.

Even someone like Jane, who wasn’t experienced in combat, could see that the forces were stretched too thin.

After all, the villa’s security staff was only intended to handle rowdy black mages or outlaws, not a horde of creatures this size.

It was obvious that it would be difficult to protect everyone if they tried to move the group while getting attacked by creatures.

At that moment, Oliver seemed to remember something and spoke up.

“I think I might be able to solve the manpower shortage,” he said.

As Oliver said this, he glanced at the leather case strapped to his lower back. It was Big Mouth.