As one who identifies with the [Hand of the Sun], what is the most reliable way to aid with mana transfer?
Naturally, physical contact.
If clothes or fabric are in the way, they hinder the mana flow. To achieve near-perfect efficiency, direct contact between bodies is necessary.
With that in mind, I unhesitatingly slipped my hand inside the dress of Marchioness Ludvecia.
“!!”
Marchioness Ludvecia was startled.
“Focus, Marchioness.”
“Ah, uh, o-okay…!”
Just as Yunia had done before, Marchioness Ludvecia, with a trembling voice, pointed her staff forward.
Grip.
“Ugh, uh…!?”
“Feel it carefully. I will guide a strand of mana through your core.”
“Hoo, hoo….”
Marchioness Ludvecia is a Grand Mage.
If there had been even a sliver of ill intent in my touch, she would have voiced her objection.
Instead, she focused on the mana flowing through my fingers, supporting her own mana flow. Feeling the steady current, she did not push my hand away but absorbed the mana.
“Ack, t-that spot…?!”
“Focus.”
“!!?”
I adjusted the hold to ensure mana flowed properly, though the marchioness’s concentration wavered slightly.
“I heard the story. That demon beast, it is the target of your revenge.”
“…”
“Use this opportunity to sever your ill-fated ties. With your own hands.”
“…I’m not entirely sure what this feeling I have right now is.”
Marchioness Ludvecia pointed her staff forward again.
“Later, let’s have a talk, just between ‘Mother’ and me, alright?”
“…”
Without responding, I gripped her core and guided the mana.
“…Hoo.”
With a synchronized breath.
“Burn, flames.”
The marchioness’s staff, pointed forward, unfolded a massive magic circle, unleashing a pillar of fire toward Rattatosk.
S-rank magic: [Flare Blast]
I subtly enhanced the spell with a force potent enough to eliminate Rattatosk.
Flash.
Breaking through its shell, Rattatosk opened its eyes.
* * *
The demon Rattatosk could never forget what happened 10 years ago.
How much effort had it poured into escaping centuries of confinement?
It had cursed the most promising bloodline, ensuring they would only practice consanguinity.
It even manipulated the negative effects of inbreeding, rendering them nonexistent.
Thus, the first Habsderk came to be.
The partner of this first-generation head of the Count Habsderk family was none other than an avatar of Rattatosk itself.
Should it be called an avatar or perhaps a daughter?
Stripping the avatar of all memory and instincts as a demon, Rattatosk had focused solely on reproduction.
Although its influence would dilute with each generation, it believed they would eventually seek it out again, compelled by an inescapable deficiency within their being.
So it waited, no matter how many decades or centuries passed.
Inbreeding had its limits.
According to ancient knowledge, the inevitable result of several generations of inbreeding was ruin.
Even with mana’s influence, continuous mating among identical genes would ultimately result in warped genetic traits, leading to physical deterioration.
Mana kept them on a semblance of normalcy.
Thanks to Rattatosk’s essence, they did not suffer from deformities, scurvy, hemophilia, or other disorders that caused them to bleed profusely or wither.
Instead, they lived shorter lives.
While SS-rank individuals often reached 80 or 90 years, those bearing Rattatosk’s essence seldom surpassed 70 years.
Ultimately, something was missing in them.
Possessing Rattatosk’s essence, they were instinctively driven to seek Rattatosk to fill the void left behind intentionally.
Eventually, the plan succeeded.
The then-head of the Habsderk family discovered Rattatosk’s sealed shrine with a party of adventurers, unsealing the restraints and breaking Rattatosk’s confinement.
And so, it devoured.
Devouring the head of the Habsderk family, it absorbed not only their lineage’s knowledge but also all the historical and cultural understanding it had missed while sealed away.
As a result, what remained for Rattatosk was the task of eliminating any beings carrying its remaining essence.
Rather than risk having them “taken away” by someone else, Rattatosk resolved to destroy those with competing essences itself.
At least, that had been the plan.
– Azure Flame
But the one who called himself son ruined everything.
Regif Habsderk.
Once an ordinary boy of the Habsderk family, but at some point, his mind became disturbingly unhinged.
The head of the family at the time even speculated that he was possessed by a demon.
Regif often made irrational decisions and even displayed hostility toward the Habsderk lineage itself.
It was as if he wished for the Habsderk family to fall, or for it to become something unrecognizable, influenced by others.
Rattatosk realized the truth.
Such thoughts and actions were possible because he was indeed under the influence of a “demon.”
Archduke of Hell.
An ancient Demon.
One of the most dangerous among the Seven Demon Kings, possessing the authority of [Annihilation], the power to destroy mana at its very source.
<Azure Flame>, Vesta.
Rattatosk did not know how this ancient being had ascended from the Demon World to influence that boy, but it did know one thing: it had been annihilated by that azure flame.
It had nearly been obliterated.
Its body was incinerated, its mana dissolved, and its soul almost entirely consumed.
Only through the intervention of surrounding angels was Rattatosk barely able to retain a fragment of its consciousness.
From an S-rank entity, it had been reduced to barely an E-rank, perhaps even F-rank.
Though now possessing only a fragile body, Rattatosk abandoned its pride and resolved to use what little remained of its powers to exact revenge.
Through curses and parasitism, it suppressed its consciousness and remained as a core, allowing itself to be consumed and absorbed by others to grow stronger.
Even during its confinement, it had patiently endured for an eternity.
What were another ten or even a hundred years compared to that?
It would have its revenge.
Whether that boy who escaped its curse was alive or dead, it would ensure retribution reached his bloodline.
With that burning hatred, it severed its ego and waited for its mana to recover, a process that took nearly ten years.
[Kihihihihi!!]
Rattatosk was now on the verge of rebirth.
Having absorbed mana from countless demon beasts, its body had reformed, albeit entirely different from its original form.
Even if strange energies lingered nearby—
Crack. Snap.
As the shell of its egg began to break, Rattatosk prepared to reclaim its—
[????]
In front of it, a massive cyclone of flames surged into the egg the moment it cracked.
The inferno immediately engulfed Rattatosk’s body, burning with a ferocity that threatened to consume its soul.
[W-what is this…?!]
What was happening?
No sooner had it regained consciousness, awakened, or come to its senses than it was faced with this disaster.
[This is absurd…!]
Impossible.
[Kihahaha!!]
But to be met with such fortune upon rebirth—
[Ssssiiiip!!]
It began to absorb.
Absorb, absorb, and absorb again.
While its current disposition leaned more toward the element of Wind, Rattatosk was originally rooted in fire.
If it could absorb these flames, it could reclaim its original form, empowered with S-rank pure mana—
Snap-!
His lungs burst.
Its core ruptured.
The moment it began to absorb the mana, the flames erupted violently from within.
[?!?!]
This, too, was impossible.
If being struck by a fiery gale upon awakening was a positive impossibility, then this was a catastrophic one.
[W-what is… Cough, what is this…?!]
It wasn’t an explosion.
Something had emerged from the fiery gale it had absorbed—a force now tearing through its body from within, carving it apart with blades.
[Kyaaaah!!]
Rattatosk cut off its mana absorption.
Instead of consuming the flames, it endured them, letting its body burn as the carefully constructed organs inside were ravaged by blades.
[You dare!!]
Shoooo—!
Rattatosk withdrew its consciousness into its core.
While this attack could potentially destroy it forever, an attack from the human world was not as dangerous.
If necessary, it could suppress its ego and hide again. After all, there was no one in this world capable of truly killing it—
[Nice to meet you, nyah.]
[Ah.]
No one except for the one who wielded the authority of Wind.
[Remiels!! How are you here?!]
[Okay, nyah. Also, don’t call me by my old name. Use my new one, nyah.]
Click.
[I am Kim Fenrir, nyah.]
A girl who called herself Kim Fenrir unsheathed the longsword at her waist, raising it high above her head.
This was death.
The moment Rattatosk was struck by that blade of wind, it would truly die.
‘Cutting Wind’.
A beast of wind existed only because it was part of the air.
If the flow of air was severed, its existence would end.
[Why—Why is this happening?!]
Rattatosk could not comprehend.
This situation was utterly unacceptable.
[What are the angels doing?! An ancient Demon, exiled to the Demon World, is here right now, walking the earth!!]
[Want me to tell you why?]
Ratatosk raised his head.
Rattatosk lifted its gaze, the same way it had when it first saw the Azure Flame.
[Oh, right. My Master told me to pass along a message, so I’ll answer with that, nyah.]
[Your… Master?]
[Master says…]
Vrrrrrr.
[Not telling you, nyah.]
Slice.
Rattatosk’s world split in two.
* * *
“Whew.”
Having dispatched Kim Fenrir through the fiery wind magic, Rattatosk was finally eradicated.
While the core might not be recoverable, simply eliminating such a massive demon was enough—
“Ahh…”
Thud.
“Hmm?”
“…”
Marchioness Ludvecia collapsed toward me, and I caught her.
“…”
Perhaps it was the excessive mana expenditure, or perhaps it could be interpreted in other ways—
“Well, I suppose there’s no helping it.”
I adjusted my grip, lifting Marchioness Ludvecia into a princess carry.
“…”
Her faint breathing confirmed that she was merely unconscious.
