Bioluminescent orbs embedded in the ceiling of the Great Labyrinth dimd and brightened to mimic the day and night cycles of the outside world.
And right now, it was pitch black.
A nocturnal aerial assault.
Unlike the beasts, this ambush clearly had thought behind it.
Golden Company soldiers raised their rifles and opened fire.
The heavy, bone-deep cracks of bolt-action rifles thundered like popping beans from all directions.
“Fire! We need to suppress them!”
As expected from the Empire’s finest elite, their marksmanship was flawless.
But the bullets ricocheted harmlessly off the bodies of the beasts flying in on wyvern-like creatures.
Ban shouted from his position:
“With Kueras, you need a concentrated shock to shatter their shields! Don’t spread your shots—group up and focus your fire!”
The Golden Company adjusted imdiately.
“Squads! Group fire!”
The tactical shift brought instant results.
The magical barrier around one of the wyvern-like creatures shattered under the combined fire of a squad.
And once the shield broke, the rest was simple.
Squad leaders sniped the wyvern riders through their scopes and brought them down cleanly.
Ban wasn’t just shouting from the sidelines, either.
“You rotten bastards!!”
His 10-gauge shotgun kept roaring.
With horrifying precision, he pumled the sa spot on multiple shields with rapid, successive slug shots, each one slamming into the sa point like a hamr. Alone, Ban tore through several shields with nothing but that shotgun.
The Hunters used a very different thod to break the Kueras’ defenses.
A bear beastkin hefted a massive machine gun and sprayed wildly into the sky. The shield of the wyvern couldn’t withstand the sustained onslaught and shattered after just a few hits.
The demon worshipers seed rattled.
[They thought a nightti ambush would sow chaos. Look how panicked they are—because we’re organized. What a bunch of idiots.]
That was thanks to Corn.
An ambush that gets detected in advance loses all its teeth.
And I wasn’t just going to sit around.
My weapon wasn’t anything fancy.
I casually bent down and picked up a rock lying on the ground.
“Corn.”
We were in perfect sync.
[Skill: Physical Reconfiguration activating!]
Corn began subtly altering my body.
I felt brutal strength surge into my latissimus dorsi and forearms, power coursing through like a violent tide.
I slowly gripped the stone and pulled my arm back into a throwing stance.
[I’ll compensate the trajectory with psychokinesis. Just chuck it however you want!]
I threw the stone.
With divine-enhanced muscles and Corn’s psychic correction, it cut through the air like a bullet.
The shield shattered on impact. The Kuera behind it—and the rider—exploded in tandem.
“...What the—?”
The Golden Company soldiers nearest looked stunned for a second, then imdiately adapted.
“Cease fire! Grab all the rocks you can find!”
“Spears, stones, chunks of tal—if it can be thrown, bring it here!”
In no ti, I had a pile of makeshift ammo in front of .
Backed by a full squad, I began hurling everything I could lay hands on.
[Kahahaha! This is cathartic! Die, you sons of bitches!!]
While Corn and I unleashed our shared madness, Ban was already coordinating the Hunters and the Golden Company like a seasoned general.
“Hunters, break their shields! Golden Company, aim for the mana stones embedded in the riders’ chests! If you don’t break the stone, they’ll cast black magic! Break the stone before the head—if the stone stays intact, they might co back from the dead!”
Even a rough order was enough for the elite troops to adapt on the fly.
“Precision fire! Target the mana stone socket in the chest! Don’t give them a chance to cast anything!”
The Golden Company, still grouped by squads, started focusing fire on the exposed chest sockets of dismounted Kuera riders.
“Two-man teams! Break the stone, then shoot the head!”
A crack sounded as a mana stone shattered, followed imdiately by the bang of a follow-up shot piercing a Luciferian’s skull.
The Hunters were focused on brute force—smashing down the shields.
As for ?
I didn’t need to worry about the “stone first, then head” protocol.
Every ti I threw sothing, the mana stone and the body behind it burst together—no need for precision when raw power did the job just fine.
After about ten minutes of sustained engagent—
There were no more Kueras in the sky.
“All squads, report to your platoon leaders! Severely wounded to the Saint imdiately!”
Captain Jero and Ban quickly moved to assess the state of the Golden Company and the Hunters.
Severely wounded soldiers were brought straight to . I placed my hands on them and healed them instantly.
Three critical injuries.
About ten minor ones.
No deaths.
“All done.”
After I restored a soldier with a ruptured femoral artery like it was nothing, both the Golden Company and the Hunters looked completely stunned.
Especially the Hunters.
“Saint...”
Mayor Lagot approached with a grave expression.
“Is it... possible that you can do more than just heal?”
“...Pardon?”
“That strength you showed earlier. We want it too. Could you... perhaps modify our bodies, like you did yours?”
It wasn’t just Lagot.
Countless Hunters around were staring with the sa expression.
They looked like veteran gars who had just discovered a hidden upgrade system no one else knew existed.
****
The next morning.
The expedition delayed its departure as mbers gathered outside my tent.
Captain Jero, along with the heads of the major Hunter guilds in the Labyrinth, had all assembled inside.
Each of them looked at with eyes wide and shining.
“We’d never seen you fight before, Saint, so we never imagined this kind of application. But after yesterday’s battle... our minds have changed. If physical modification is possible—please grant it to us.”
“It would skyrocket our survival and success rates beyond imagination.”
“Skin like steel! Superhuman strength! Eyes that can spot enemies a kiloter away!”
“If we’d known you had such abilities, we would’ve asked long ago!”
Until now, I’d always fought alone.
I avoided others whenever possible. And even when people had fought on my behalf, I’d usually been unconscious or too injured to move.
This was the first ti I’d ever truly fought alongside others.
So I’d never even considered modifying and strengthening their bodies.
[Yeah. Why didn’t we think of this before? If you enhance these people into superhumans, getting to the 7th floor will be a walk in the park.]
Corn’s voice clicked sothing into place in my mind. I nodded without realizing it.
Exactly.
This could make everything so much easier.
“Captain Jero. Would you step forward, please?”
Without hesitation, Jero approached .
I took his arm, activating Physical Reconfiguration and Sensory Amplification ×3000.
As I expected—
[Modification is possible!]
It worked.
Enhanced reflexes, amplified three thousandfold.
Inhuman strength.
And if I added Absolute Hypnosis, I could create a willpower so unshakable it would withstand trauma and pain # Nоvеlight # alike.
A literal, reproducible superhuman.
“It’s possible. It works. If you wish it, I can enhance everyone here to the sa level you saw from yesterday. This is the first ti I’ve fought as a team, so I didn’t think of this before!”
The room lit up with joy.
“Could you begin right away? I volunteer as the first subject!”
Jero’s voice was bright with excitent.
I gave a small smile and spoke to Corn.
“Corn, rember how you always modified my body? Do it exactly like that.”
[I can’t stick to these people for ongoing tuning like I do with you, so I can’t turn them into monsters like you. But I can boost them to several tis stronger than they are now.]
“Perfect. Then let’s—”
Just as I was about to begin, with everyone grinning and ready—
“Wait.”
Ban raised his hand, stopping us.
“I object, Saint.”
“...Excuse ?”
“A person should only use bullets their body can handle. If a regular man gets jealous of a bear beastkin and picks up a machine gun, he’s going to throw his back out trying to fire it.”
I frowned, confused.
“What are you trying to say?”
“Power that’s too easy to get—or too far beyond your limits—always cos with a price, Saint. If there’s power that convenient, sothing dangerous is hiding behind it.”
Ban gently pulled my hand off Jero’s arm.
“I object. Sothing about this feels wrong. Creating superhumans shouldn’t be this easy.”
Jero’s brow furrowed.
“I understand your concerns, Ban, but think about what this could an for the mission. Why reject the shortcut when the long road is dangerous?”
“This is the advice of experience, son. A shortcut that can be trusted is only one that’s been carved out by long hardship. But a shortcut that just happens to be lying in front of you? That’s where the traps are.”
Jero looked around the tent in frustration.
But the Hunter guild leaders, monts ago giddy with excitent, were now looking grim.
“If Ban says that much, we should listen.”
“He’s never been wrong before.”
“Saint... could we ask you to look into the ability more closely? If it turns out safe, it won’t be too late to proceed.”
The guild leaders backed off.
And with that shift, Jero could no longer push the idea either.
I looked at Ban.
And I rembered what Ruphiel had told on top of Talhaim’s stone mountain, before she vanished:
Take the narrow path.
The narrow path.
And now, Ban’s words about the easy one.
“Please wait a mont.”
I closed my eyes.
Unlike before, Asmodeus was now fully awakened.
If I wanted to, I could call upon her anyti for questions or guidance.
[Asmodeus?]
I closed my eyes and focused, calling her na softly.
Not long after, the voice from within answered.
[Speak, my master.]
[I need to ask sothing.]
[Anything.]
[I want to enhance the people here—turn them into superhumans using your power. What are the possible side effects?]
She didn’t answer in words.
Instead, she showed .
A vivid hallucination.
A glimpse of what could happen.
It lasted nearly ten minutes.
When it ended, I opened my eyes.
“...The plan to create superhumans with physical reconfiguration is canceled. I won’t proceed.”
A collective sigh echoed from Jero and the others.
“May we ask why?” Jero ventured cautiously.
I shrugged.
“You’ll be corrupted.”
“...What?”
“The mont your bodies exceed their natural limits—more precisely, the mont you're exposed to power beyond what the Goddess of Life permits—you’ll be overwheld by an irresistible desire. You’ll crave that power, want to claim it for yourselves.”
More addictive than any drug.
The hallucination showed the once-loyal expedition descending into chaos. Those I had enhanced—unable to resist the craving—turned on one another. Forgetting the mission, they tore each other apart trying to take the divine power in my soul for themselves.
Asmodeus had shown it all to , her voice calm.
“It’s not a temptation humans can withstand. Lucifer himself was once the Archangel of the Goddess of Life. Even he couldn’t bear it, and beca a Demon Lord. This is a poison. A sweetness so seductive, you’ll drink it even knowing it will kill you.”
I shivered.
If I had given that power to them just now—blindly, unknowingly...
Asmodeus, still smiling sweetly, had told she would do so without hesitation.
If that’s what I wanted.
She would obey without question.
That terrified .
What I carried inside wasn’t so friendly guide. It was a transcendent, utterly obedient force.
For the first ti, I began to understand Ruphiel’s words.
Take the narrow path.
The others must’ve seen how pale I looked.
They, too, began to sense the danger.
“Do you think just anyone can beco a Saint or a Hero? Only a rare few, after being tested and chosen. Don’t try to shoot bullets you can’t withstand. You’ll get hurt. What are you all doing? Get moving. Let’s go do our jobs!”
Ban pushed everyone out of the tent.
The guild leaders and Jero seed deep in thought—but eventually nodded and followed him out.
[You did the right thing. That vision was horrifying. People completely lost their minds... like animals. But hey—why you? Why aren’t you going crazy from that sa divine power?]
Corn’s question silenced .
Honestly, I didn’t know anymore either.
Why?
Why was I fine?
Why could I use the power of the Goddess of Life and stay sane?
I asked Asmodeus the sa thing.
[You remained yourself because you chose not to fall, my master—unlike Lucifer.]
Not exactly helpful.
In the end, neither Lilia...
Nor Asmodeus...
Could give an answer.
Reviews
All reviews (0)