Demon-Hunting Genius Mage

Chapter 8

[PR/N - POV changed to MC.]

"From now on, we\'re going to modify magic."

Honestly, I wasn’t confident when I said that.

Modifying magic.

It\'s not something you can fully understand just by playing a game.

\'The game didn’t really go into much detail about this.\'

While it did mention the traits and advantages of modified magic, there was no explanation of the underlying principles.

In other words, I had to figure out everything myself—the calculations needed for modification, the flow of mana, and how to visualize the magic.

So, naturally, I wasn\'t very confident.

But...

\'I never expected it to be this... incredible.\'

After just one day of trying out modification magic, I realized something.

The trait I had—or rather, the magical talent that this body contained—were so overwhelming that I didn\'t even need to worry about the details.

The ‘Prodigy of Magic’ trait truly lived up to its name.

The result?

Crackle! Zzzt!

Yellow lightning started crackling around my body at regular intervals.

I had successfully modified lightning magic to coat my entire body with it.

It was a level of transformation magic far beyond what Kayla had achieved.

Of course, the visible effect is only part of it.

With this modified magic in place, my physical abilities have completely changed from what they were before.

For example,

“Take one more bottle.”

Whoosh!

When the holy water bottle shot off, it was so fast that if one blinks, it would be missed.

It smashed into where the red-haired demon was standing. The bottle shattered and released a brilliant white light.

Almost immediately, an agonizing scream echoed through the air.

“Aaargh!”

Nice, that worked.

Now, just one more bottle left.

“He’s… dead, right?”

Kayla stammered from behind me.

“He’s not dead. He took a serious hit, but he’s still alive.”

Kayla might not understand, but there’s no way a demon servant would die from just this.

Especially not one serving Valefar, the Demon of Greed—known for their persistence even in the game.

No matter how much holy water you pour on them, all it does is force out their true form.

Still, it’s something, right?

“Where on earth did you get something like that...?”

“Oh, this?”

The answer was simple.

If you think about where we are, it’s not hard to conclude there would be holy water around here.

\'Sector 7 is swarming with far more demons than any other zone.\'

With so many demons, you\'d need holy water to maintain any sort of safety with this number of people.

It wasn’t certain, but it was highly likely.

Plus, I still had two unused keys left.

Clink.

I glanced down at the keyring hanging from my waist.

There were four keys in total on the ring.

One was for the dungeon cells here, and another was for the vault where I’d found the blink stone and gold coins.

The other two keys—no idea what they’re for yet.

But it’s worth taking a gamble.

And most importantly... my instincts were kicking in.

The instincts heightened by the spirit mark.

‘I need to trust my gut.’

30 stats in instinct, especially with the added modifiers, is nothing to scoff at.

In the game, 30 in instinct meant the character would often figure things out on their own in tough situations.

In other words, my instinct was pretty reliable.

“I’ll explain later.”

There’s no time to give a detailed explanation right now.

The real fight was just about to begin.

“Grrrrr…”

Suddenly, a low growl like a beast echoed through the air.

Yeah, it’s starting.

Thud. Thud.

It stepped forward slowly.

As the dusty haze cleared, its figure came into full view.

I had expected it, but the reality was worse than I imagined.

The sight was enough to make me nauseous.

"Is that... thing still alive?"

"...Probably."

Holy water has the power to forcibly purify evil energy.

And that effect was grotesquely evident on man’s body.

His entire skin had peeled off, revealing his raw flesh and exposed white bones.

The face and head of the man were gone, so it was impossible to identify his former appearance.

He didn’t look alive at all, yet he kept moving forward.

What’s worse...

Sssssss...

With every step he took, a wave of eerie and chilling magic spread out around it.

Even getting close to it felt repulsive.

“Raaaagh!”

The red-haired man - no - the demon let out a guttural and animalistic howl as if he had lost all sense of speech.

At the same time—

Crack, snap!

His body began to change.

\'This is straight out of a horror movie...\'

His bones and flesh twisted grotesquely.

He looked like he was getting taller, and then suddenly, his bones burst through his skin.

His nails grew to the length of daggers, and a blood-red glow filled his eyes.

The melted skin regenerated with fresh flesh growing over it.

There was no way to call that thing human anymore.

He was more like a ghoul.

To think I’d see something in real life that I’d only seen in a game...

“...Va...le...far...”

The red-haired demon rasped out his master’s name with a broken voice.

At that moment—

His gaze shifted menacingly toward me.

The murderous intent was so intense, I flinched without realizing it.

Whoooosh!

The air crackled with surging magic.

A pitch-black magic circle appeared beside it.

My instincts screamed danger.

“...Can we kill that thing?”

“...I’m not sure.”

I couldn’t give a confident answer.

I didn’t even know my own limits, let alone how strong that thing was.

But did it really matter?

This wasn’t a question of whether I could or couldn’t.

It was something I had to do.

"Die..."

Boom!

An explosion sounded from the magic circle.

It fired a formless blast of mana—heading straight for my head.

‘Can I do it?’

Countless questions flashed through my confused mind.

But while my thoughts were tangled, my body moved calmly.

Just before the magic could hit, I kicked off the ground lightly.

My body was strengthened by modified magic and the awakening from close combat causing it to react instantly.

I shot forward like a cannonball.

Boom!

In an instant, I dodged out of the path of the magic and closed the distance. I landed right in front of the demon’s face.

There was no more room for doubt.

I had already made my decision.

That thing is going to die here.

And I’m going to survive.

I... I will survive.

Crack!

I clenched my fist tightly, channeling all my mana into it.

Since I was focused on body-strengthening magic to enhance my body instead of using long-range spells, this was the strongest attack I could muster right now.

My fist was loaded with all the mana I\'d gathered and the momentum I\'d gained from kicking the ground.

It landed squarely in the red-haired demon\'s abdomen.

But—

I wasn’t the only one whose body had been enhanced.

Boom!

It wasn’t the sound of flesh meeting flesh—it was like steel clashing against steel.

I only managed to push it back about five centimeters.

Unlike before, when the demon had been knocked away, this time he stood firm.

A dull pain shot through my fist.

As I thought—this wasn’t enough.

“Im...pres...sive...!”

Before I could even react to its twisted voice, his magic surged wildly.

A new magic circle appeared above the demon’s head.

Tch!

I kicked off the demon’s body with both feet and used the momentum to propel myself backward.

At the same moment, a blast of magic shot toward the spot I had just been standing on, warping the space around it.

Crack!

A chill ran up my spine.

"...That was close."

I took a quick breath and adjusted my strategy.

There was only one way to land a decisive hit.

I had wanted to save it for the final blow, but... now wasn\'t the time to hold back.

Pop!

The cork of the bottle flew off with a soft sound, releasing the faint scent of holy water.

Glug, glug.

I poured the holy water over my fist and wet it thoroughly.

It stung, like alcohol splashing on a wound.

My wet fist began to glow with a subtle and holy light.

The moment I saw it, I launched myself forward again.

Boom!

This time, the demon wasn’t about to let me get close. It formed a magic circle directly in front of me.

There was no way I could break through it head-on.

I scanned the magic circle closely, analyzing every detail with my eyes.

The key was reading the flow of mana.

As a result of the spirit mark, I had enhanced reflexes and perceptions, which assisted me in navigating.

—Accelerated reflexes and heightened dynamic vision.

‘Left.’

The instant I made my decision, I rolled my body to the right.

Sssszzz!

A space-distorting magic shot past me and narrowly missing my clothes.

It sucked all the air where I had been.

Thump, thump, thump...!

My heart pounded in my chest.

A cold sweat dripped down my back.

The fight would be decided in an instant.

Either that thing dies, or I do.

Once again, I concentrated my lightning magic into my legs and heart.

Crackle!

I pushed off the ground.

I shot forward.

My fist aimed for the same spot as before—the abdomen.

It was the easiest target to hit.

Thud!

I drove my fist in hard.

Ssssss...

I heard a sizzling sound.

I felt a strange and squishy texture beneath my knuckles.

The holy water was melting the demon\'s skin.

"Graaaah...!"

The demon groaned in pain.

Looks like my fist hit the spot.

This was my chance.

Before the effects of the holy water faded, I unleashed a barrage of punches.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

Each punch made a deeper dent in his abdomen.

But there was no time to relax.

Dark magic was still firing at me from every direction.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

And it wasn’t just magic.

The demon swiped its long claws.

He snapped his sharp teeth in the air, trying to tear into my flesh.

Crunch!

I focused all my attention on dodging.

Ducking, twisting my body, retreating whenever necessary.

Sssshhh!

Sometimes, an attack came at an angle I couldn’t fully avoid, so I pulled back as much as possible to minimize the damage.

Slicccce!

Demon’s claws raked across my left shoulder and tore through the flesh.

A burning sensation shot through the gash, and warm blood flowed from the horizontal wound.

“You... okay...?”

“…No.”

...Damn, it hurts like hell.

I steadied my spinning head and soaked my dried-up fist with more holy water.

Then I charged again.

Flash!

Time passed—who knows how long—amid the fierce back-and-forth, until it happened.

The demon opened his mouth.

He was aiming for my neck.

This was it. The final move.

I twisted my head and moved my arm.

The bottle of holy water in my right hand smashed against his fangs.

Crash!

The holy water poured straight down his throat.

The sound of burning flesh was immediate.

Hissss!

"Graaaaahhh!"

As the demon’s roar filled the air, I knew it was over.

Holy water was flooding his insides and would tear the demon apart from within.

“Grugh...! Grr...!”

The red-haired demon staggered back and collapsed on the ground.

He was gasping for breath and began to emit a faint white smoke.

It was a sign that he had lost his strength.

Ssssss!

The swollen body gradually deflated.

The bones that had protruded and the claws began to slowly revert to their original form.

He was once again a human shape.

I picked up a sharp fragment from the broken wall and slowly approached the fallen figure.

Our eyes met.

A frail voice that was on the verge of breaking escaped from his mouth.

“I... made a mistake...”

There was a strange sadness in his expression.

But I didn’t feel even a hint of pity.

If it weren’t for him, Kayla and I wouldn’t have been in such danger.

And besides, this was the same bastard who had made a pact with a demon and thought of others\' hearts as nothing more than snacks.

There was no reason to feel sorry.

If anything, the only thing I could offer him was.

“Everyone dies from a mistake.”

The slicked-back hair guy, the giant, the old man—they all died the same way.

One mistake, one bad decision, and everything they’d built crumbled.

The same goes for me.

I nearly died because I allowed myself to become complacent.

That’s how it is.

One mistake is enough to take everything away.

That’s reality.

So.

“Accept it with grace.”

"......"

His death wasn’t anything special.

Thud!

I felt a slight tremor through my hand.

The shard I held pierced through his heart.

His eyes lost focus.

He was dead.

A whoosh sound accompanied the sudden flare of light.

Kayla had set the flames alight.

From behind me, I heard her relieved voice.

“Is it over...?”

I collapsed to the ground.

My body had no strength left.

But…

“...Not yet.”

Gripping the blood-stained shard, I mercilessly stabbed it into his heart and head.

A final and decisive kill.

Servants of Valefar could resurrect with the slightest bit of leeway.

Thud! Thud! Thud!

I don’t know how long I continued.

It was only when I felt certain that even Valefar himself couldn’t revive this servant. I finally scanned my surroundings.

The ground was covered in blood and the underground prison reduced to a scene of chaos.

The stench of blood filled the air.

In that atmosphere, I spoke heavily.

"...It\'s over. Finally."

In this cruel world.

Once again, I had survived.