Dark Fantasy’s Extra Chapter 80

I fired my rifle again at the Flowing Blood Beasts.

Their movement speed was slower than an ordinary human’s, so it wasn’t difficult to hit them right in the center of their heads.

However, since their bodies were made of blood clots, the concept of vital points didn’t seem to exist as they wouldn’t fall with just one or two shots.

Eventually, to conserve silver bullets, I put away my rifle and took out my silver hatchet.

I swung the hatchet widely aiming to inflict maximum damage, then retreated before they could counterattack.

Though simple, the sheer number of enemies was the problem.

Blood Klifort creates more Beasts the more damage it takes.

The Deceivers that can directly damage the boss are created randomly, so increasing the number of generated Beasts by dealing maximum damage at once increases the chances of getting one.

As expected, Sephira’s attack was perhaps too powerful as the number of enemies that appeared seemed to be well into triple digits.

However, they were decreasing very quickly too.

Sephira ran freely among the Flowing Blood Beasts swinging her sword.

Like a wolf rampaging through a flock of sheep, the Blood Beasts were cut down in one strike and returned to red stains on the floor.

The triple digits quickly became double digits.

“…!!”

Suddenly the ground shook.

The source of the vibration was Blood Klifort in the center of this cavern.

Sephira and I had just finished our attacks, and Oscar must have accidentally killed a Deceiver.

“Lady Sephira! Now!”

I shouted loudly while pointing at Blood Klifort.

“Hah!”

Sephira immediately sent a blade energy wave with one strike.

When the giant blade energy directly hit the tree, leaves showered down again.

Though the fallen leaves transformed into another army of Flowing Blood Beast like before, Blood Klifort’s leaves had noticeably decreased.

“Indeed.”

Having grasped the tree’s characteristics, Sephira slaughtered the Beasts more aggressively.

However, even in that dance of slaughter, not a single drop of blood stained her body.

I noticed Oscar was staring blankly at that sight again.

In that brief moment of distraction, several Flowing Blood Beast had approached near him.

“I told you to stay focused!”

I reinforced my shoulder with magical power while shouting at Oscar and threw a silver dagger from my waist.

The dagger traced a silvery arc as it flew past his nose by a hair’s breadth and pierced the Beast.

Perhaps because the dagger contained much more silver than bullets, the Beast turned into a splash of blood with one hit.

“Gasp!?”

“Don’t let your guard down just because they’re slow!”

“S-sorry!”

Oscar hurriedly put distance between himself and the Beasts.

Though there was that small incident, the mid-boss battle was going smoothly.

This being a mid-game dungeon to begin with, having higher-ranked hunter Sephira here was already overkill.

We just hadn’t defeated Blood Klifort yet because it wasn’t the type that could be overwhelmed with pure firepower, but if it were a normal boss, it would have been dispatched instantly like the mobs being swept away now.

After repeating this process several times, no leaves remained on the tree.

“Is it over now?”

Oscar asked.

“It can’t be this easy.”

I put away my hatchet and took out my rifle again.

Now phase 2 begins.

Cracks appeared in Blood Klifort’s bark, and giant black snakes poked their heads out from the gaps.

“Shaaark!”

When the snakes all raised their heads and opened their mouths, massive amounts of blood flowed out and merged in the air above the tree to form a sphere.

As that sphere gradually took shape, it eventually became the form of a red moon.

“Ah… beautiful….”

Oscar muttered.

Though I can’t quite understand even with knowledge from my past life, perhaps Oscar as a genius mage sees something different.

What I do know is that bizarrely shaped Beasts will periodically emerge from that moon from now on.

Those Beasts try to merge with each other once they reach a certain number, and if left alone, they become very fast and powerful beings.

So preventing their fusion is the key to phase 2.

After repeating this a few times, that red moon would break and…

“How unpleasant.”

The skeletal form flowed from Sephira’s sword again, and she immediately launched it at the red moon.

When the giant skeleton flew like a catapult and collided with the moon, a tremendous explosion occurred.

And when the smoke cleared, the moon appeared shattered like glass.

Blood flowed from the cracks in the broken moon and soaked the tree.

The red moon soon lost its color, turning a dull gray before falling to the ground and shattering into pieces when it hit the tree.

The snakes that had emerged from Blood Klifort disappeared like smoke.

“…?”

What?

Did we just defeat the boss?

“It seems to be over.”

Sephira sheathed her sword.

Like Oscar before, I stared at her blankly.

Wait, really?

Could the boss be defeated like that?

Even after playing through Blue Paper Moon dozens of times, I never knew you could attack that moon directly.

“Ah, um… th-that was amazing.”

I found myself clapping without realizing.

“Ugh.”

Sephira turned her head.

Could she be embarrassed?

…No, that can’t be.

Something must have gotten in her eye.

“Anyway… seems this is the end.”

Let’s return to reality.

Having defeated the mid-boss in the bloodstone lab, there’s nothing more to see here.

We need to go back up and head to the moonstone lab now.

“Oscar, let’s go back.”

“…”

Oscar didn’t respond.

He just kept staring endlessly at the shattered moon pieces and Blood Klifort.

“I said let’s go back.”

“…Okay.”

His voice lacked strength.

“I don’t know what you sensed from that tree, but it was something horrible created by Vile.”

“…Yeah. I know. But still… that was truly incredible. The old man would’ve been amazed if he saw it.”

I don’t specifically know what was incredible about it.

If anything, Sephira seemed quite displeased by it.

“As a mage, Mr. Oscar might have found beauty in that magical power structure.”

Sephira said.

“But to my eyes, it appeared as an abomination that had to be eliminated. The human souls contained within that Beast… were in such a horrific state.”

“Souls?”

“That’s the only way I can express it. I vaguely sensed it. Inside that tree, it felt like countless humans were writhing. And they were all… screaming in agony.”

So that’s what Sephira sensed?

I didn’t feel anything at all.

This must be the difference between a genius and an ordinary person.

Anyway, after looking around this room a bit more and confirming there was nothing else, we went back up.

Now we just need to clear the moonstone lab and only the boss remains.

* * *

“I didn’t expect you to come so soon, Jacob.”

Though somewhat surprised by her childhood friend Jarkoff’s sudden visit to her quarters, Hilde welcomed him with a smile.

“You liked black tea with raspberry jam, right? Sorry, I don’t have that now. Should I go buy some?”

“No, it’s fine. I’m the one who came without notice.”

“Then is regular black tea okay?”

“Yes.”

Jarkoff nodded while seated at the table.

Hilde brewed black tea using a kettle that boiled water with magic.

“Thanks… But are you really okay in such a small room?”

To his eyes, Hilde’s quarters were hardly a space befitting a lady of an influential count’s family.

Of course, she had already left her worldly status behind as a hunter, but the class consciousness people are born with runs deep.

Even among hunters, those of noble birth and commoner birth often instinctively keep their distance.

“This is fine. It’s actually bigger than my previous room.”

“Previous room?”

“I used to stay with my Senior in an even smaller room.”

“…Huh?”

“Ah! Nothing inappropriate happened.”

Hilde waved her hands.

“It was purely for education and learning how to live as a hunter from up close.”

“B-but still, a man and woman in the same room…? And it’s been several months since you became a hunter….”

“I’m telling you nothing like that happened!”

Jarkoff understood that there would have been an uproar if anything had happened.

But that wasn’t the issue – the fact that a noble lady and a commoner man spent dozens of days in the same room was something barely tolerable by this world’s moral standards.

“Senior isn’t the type to do such things.”

“…Is this senior such a good hunter?”

“Yes!”

“Then, could you tell me about him?”

Hilde failed to notice the subtle coldness in her childhood friend’s voice as she continued talking about Eugene.

Most of it was about what an excellent hunter he was.

As he listened quietly, Jarkoff noticed something strange.

“You really were close.”

“Well of course since we….”

“But you know.”

“Yes?”

“It’s all about missions. Don’t you know things like what he likes, or his hobbies?”

“Ah… well….”

Hilde’s voice dropped slightly.

“Senior didn’t talk much about himself. I asked a few times but he never really told me.”

“Really? Why?”

“Probably… because of our different status. He’s an excessively earnest person. He was probably being considerate of me.”

“Hmm….”

Jarkoff felt somewhat relieved.

He had already finished investigating that person to some extent.

He was a hunter who was clean and earnest to an almost unpleasant degree.

That character must have been reflected in Hilde’s training too.

At least that Eugene seemed to be keeping his distance from Hilde.

But when those two were embracing at the hospital when Hilde was admitted…

Jarkoff secretly gritted his teeth as that unwanted scene came to mind.

“Hey….”

Though he wanted to follow Hilde who had chosen to be a hunter rather than a noble, he lacked the talent for it.

However, his respected father’s teachings echoed in Jarkoff’s ears.

‘Nobles have noble methods, son.’

“Are you bothered about owing so much to that person?”

Simply crushing with power is third-rate for a noble.

“Yes. I received so much help….”

“So you want to repay that debt, right?”

“That’s right. But I’m not sure how…. Do you have any good ideas?”

Though it pained his heart that she would ask him such a thing, he showed no change in expression or demeanor.

‘Hide your emotions and skillfully deceive others for what you want.’

“I haven’t abandoned my noble status. Have you forgotten that nobles have their own methods?”

“Noble methods? …Ah.”

“My father is the overall commander of the Offenbach branch. To be honest, I investigated that hunter Eugene quite thoroughly too. He’s truly an excellent hunter. So I’ll arrange a good position for him.”

“Umm… but Senior doesn’t really….”

“Wouldn’t someone of his caliber be better off in bigger waters? It would be good to help him get much better treatment at a better workplace in the future.”

“I-is that so? But I heard he’s in another department….”

“Tracking behemoths, wasn’t it? Isn’t that too dangerous? Rather than putting such talent in overly dangerous missions, our side could offer more suitable work. You’re worried about him too, right?”

‘If necessary, deceive even those close to you, and gladly welcome even enemies with a smile.’

“Yes…. Then can I ask that of you? Ah, please don’t mention me.”

“Of course.”

‘That’s how I eliminated my rival, son.’