Chapter 20: I Accidentally Cast a Legendary Necrotic Spell and All I Got Was This Stupid Cosmetic Effect

It seems I have accidentally unleashed an incomprehensible spell of pure necrotic destruction. Why is a spell with a cute nickname like “Nekuroberu” so dangerous? Shouldn’t something like this be called “Cataclysmic Necrosis” or “Ultimate Life Annihilation” or something like that?

Even I couldn’t have predicted that General Wuns Agen’s evil spellbook would be written in my home language. I was so excited to read something I inherently knew about that I went ahead and made the biggest mistake I could possibly make. My eyes feel like they’re burning. My ears are ringing. My taste is vanishing. All I see around me is dangerous purple mana, and the previously nonexistent magic power I had feels like it's corrupting my skin.

Am I turning into an undead? Did one slip of the tongue wash away all of my ambitions, just like that? How am I supposed to become the Demon King if I turn into a soulless husk right here?

…Am I just a weak boss that’ll get pitifully slain by the Hero? After how hard I worked to get ahead? What a useless existence…

The world is turning cold. I never knew I could feel such an intense lack of warmth. Every breath I take is disintegrating more and more of my thoughts. What was I even doing here in the first place? I’m mad about something, but what am I so frustrated for?

Another breath, another shiver. The purple mana swirls around me in an intense vortex. My world starts to spin with it. Ahh, I want ramen…

And then…

I blink my eyes as normal and feel perfectly fine. What? What just happened?

“G-Girl… What spell did you just cast…?”

The General’s raspy voice pierces my reawakened senses. I choose to politely ignore him and lick my lips instead. Huh. My sense of taste is fine, though by the tingles of my tastebuds it seems I sweated buckets fighting the general. Or was it maybe a result of casting that spell? Regardless, I’m now noticing that my clothes are drenched with sweat and are sticking to me. Eugh. It seems my sense of touch is fine too. I’ll have to wash myself soon.

I can hear, see, and speak just fine after some quick tests. Was all of that purple mana just for show? Maybe Nekuroberu is a prank spell then?

“Hey, Mr. General Wuns Agen Sir, what the heck happened?”

“Why should I answer to a wretch like you?! What sorcery have you committed to remain human even now?!”

“There’s no need to yell y’know? I promise all that was a big accident, and if I wanted to really cause some damage, wouldn’t this whole fort be mine at this point? I’d really appreciate your cooperation. Surely I deserve even that after having emerged victorious from our battle.”

“I have no reason to trust a traitor to humanity like you. How could you abandon your human soul and take interest in necrotic acts so casually?”

“Oh? Mr. General Sir, that’s certainly an interesting argument to make. I don’t know if I should be blunt like this, but you were definitely studying this book yourself. What exactly were you trying to do with this, hmm?”

All he does is glare at me in response. Even when I expose him, he still refuses to acknowledge his own hypocrisy, it seems. It seems paranoia is a slow and methodical killer. We never got to see this stubborn side of him in The Tears of Nephelai. It’s not a particularly good look for him, unfortunately. I decide to address the slightly less grumpy old man that’s also present.

“Rocco, are you feeling alright? I don’t really know what happened, but I hope I didn’t do anything too irredeemable.”

Rocco’s low clucking in response assures me that everything is fine. Somehow I understand his rare, calming response through that simple action. My synchronization must have really evolved if I’m feeling calm by his clucking.

Well then. I suppose I just need to wait for Sheffie and his son to show up. Per the plan I so expertly devised, once everyone is taken care of, we’ll set up Fort Forth to be a proper dungeon for the Hero to explore. I’ll need to activate my silver tongue in the meantime and convince the stubborn General on the floor to fight the Hero as a boss.

One might wonder why I’m still preparing the Hero a dungeon. After all, wouldn’t the Hero getting stronger go against my whole goal in the first place? That is a solid truth. Despite this, the Hero still needs to go through various trials to unlock the dormant power of the Holy Sword of Happiyendeng. Much to my chagrin, that dormant power is needed to access the gateway to the later portions of the game. If the Holy Sword of Happiyendeng does not acknowledge the Hero’s power, then everyone will lose, not just me.

For now, I’ll have to simultaneously help and hinder the Hero. I’ll be sure to take everything good and handle the original scenarios at each location myself. As an NPC, I’ll have to be clever about what I do in each area, but with Chicken Synchronization, a necrotic ring, and an Orc Tribe, I think I can manage. Setting up each area to be an alternate challenge is what will truly test me. Many variables are at play, and I’m going to be the one disrupting all of them. If I steal enough items and gain enough support, I’ll do fine.

“Wh-What is that sinister aura?! You fiend, what attack are you preparing?!”

“Um, what? All I’m doing is thinking, though?”

And yet, as I say that, I catch a glimpse at my body and see the aforementioned purple aura surrounding me.

“Eh? What the heck is this? I didn’t even feel a difference.”

“It’s the mark of a curse, surely! A wretch like you festering in the spirits of the damned is no surprise! How foul!”

“I feel literally no changes to me, General. Maybe it’s just a result of the spell I cast? I wonder if I can turn it off?”

With that causal sentence, the aura dissipates.

“Oh! Is there really an on and off function? Alright then. On!”

The aura returns.

“Off!”

It disappears once more.

“On! Off! On! Off!”

I practically become a light show with the aura flickering back and forth.

“Huh, so I just gained a cosmetic effect? All that pain and feeling like I was gonna die was just for show? Necrobelle, what a silly spell you tried to hide. Don’t you think the same General?”

“...It seems you have not realized that your stolen ring is the only thing keeping you alive.”

“...Pardon?”

“Ah, blasted, I muttered my thoughts aloud. Disregard what I just said.”

“Nononono, wait a second, what do you mean by that? This stupid slimy ring is my only lifeline?! I was actually thinking about taking it off as soon as I left this place!”

“Then you’re not only a villain, but you’re a fool as well! Reading spells you don’t know the power of, invading the lifeline between the Demon King and the good people we protect, and after all that, you’re begging for answers because you dare to feign regret for your actions!”

“You’re a hypocrite, you damn General! You were studying this book too! For all we know, it could’ve been you in my situation, not me! And what’s all this about protecting people when you overwork your staff due to your paranoia of a nonexistent threat, huh?! If anything, I at least have noble intentions in mind, you’re just trying to protect yourself! Pocket your delirium for later and tell me what you meant about this ring!”

“Noble intentions?! What insolence! You think betraying the trust of your fellow humans is noble? Ha! What low-lives raised a cur like you? Your parents must have been born from scum if they produced the filth in front of me!”

“Don’t you dare speak about my parents!”

In my anger, I feel my new aura flare up again. It doesn't do anything else, just waver and flicker like a giant purple fire. There’s no feeling in it as it emanates from my skin, a stark contrast to how I feel right now. Before I even noticed it, my claws were precariously close to the General’s eyes, as if I was about to scratch them out.

I’m frustrated. I’m angry about a lot of things. I’m possibly in a precarious state of existence, but I don’t have the answers. The General continues to admonish me. Worst of all, my parents were insulted. I know nothing of Village Girl A’s parents, but hearing an insult to my parents is always something I will never stand for. Even if the me who was raised from them doesn’t exist anymore, my parents from my previous life do not deserve to get slandered by anyone. Especially because of me.

Ugh. The boss fight was fun, but that wasn’t enough of a distraction to keep my mind preoccupied. Now that the tension has settled, I feel my mind catching up to me. This won’t do. I need to progress forward. I should drop the funny business and just talk to the General heart-to-heart. As if realizing what I was about to do, I slowly retract my claws away from the General’s face, and sit down on the ground, next to where he collapsed.

“General, sir. Sorry for the outburst. I should… let you know a little more about why I’m doing all of this, shouldn’t I?”

“...”

“I’ll talk and just hope that you listen.”

Feeling the General’s gaze on me, I take a deep breath. Hopefully this works.