The Immortal Genius Spearman

He instinctively knew.

‘This is dangerous!’

Cracks spread across the crystal, and thick, dark magic surged out from within.

Moments ago, Homen had been engulfed by the escaping magic, losing consciousness.

“Homen!”

Claire rushed over, praying desperately.

Her holy power pushed back the magic invading Homen’s body, but it wasn’t easy.

Sweat poured down Claire’s face as her expression twisted in strain.

Whoooosh!

The magic spilling from the crystal began to thrash even more violently.

If they couldn’t completely destroy it…

‘…Everyone will die.’

It was clear how dangerous the situation was just by the way the monsters, tainted by magic, were becoming more savage.

‘What about the others?’

Even the smaller monsters were going berserk, making things much worse.

There was no way for anyone to lend a hand; they were all tied up.

Damian looked at the crystal floating in front of him.

He wasn’t sure if he could do it…

‘But there are already cracks.’

The crystal had taken a severe hit from Homen’s attack.

It was thrashing around like this to protect itself.

Gritting his teeth, Damian tightened his grip on his spear.

Right now—

‘I’m the only one left.’

The only one who could destroy the crystal.

Damian began to draw all the remaining mana from his magic core.

Though he had already exhausted much of it in his battle with the Werewolf…

‘Pull it all up from the bottom.’

He had to finish it in one blow.

There would be no second chance.

Woooooong.

Damian’s eyes cooled and sharpened.

His body began to strengthen as his muscles tensed from the mana coursing through him.

As the mana infused his spear, it began to emit a faint glow.

Whoosh!

Damian charged toward the crystal.

His target was singular: to destroy the cursed object in one strike.

“Haaaaaah!”

Whoooosh!

The crystal thrashed violently, releasing wild bursts of magic in a final act of resistance.

A foreboding energy wrapped around Damian’s entire body.

Thud!

Damian launched himself off the ground and thrust his spear toward the crystal with all his strength.

At that moment—

BOOM!

With a deafening crash, the crystal’s cracks widened.

Craack, Craaack!

The sound of it breaking apart echoed.

But Damian’s expression hardened.

‘Not enough…!’

He could feel it through his fingertips.

The force wasn’t sufficient.

Landing back on the ground, Damian bit his lip.

He needed one more strike…!

But then—

Whoooosh!

“D-Damian!”

“Damian!”

Dianal and Kyle shouted in alarm.

The black magic spewing from the crystal had engulfed Damian.

* * *

…What?

Suddenly, the world turned black.

He couldn’t see or feel anything.

Only one thing was clear—

‘I don’t think I’m dead…’

It was an intuition born of having died once before.

But then—

“Aaaaaargh!”

Damian screamed as pain ripped through his entire body.

He had thought he was used to pain.

“Gaaah…!”

The agony was so intense that Damian couldn’t help but curl in on himself.

What kind of pain was this…?

But he soon understood the reason.

“This… damn…!”

Something foreign was creeping into his body.

It was dark magic.

This ominous, vile sensation was the same as the magic that had poured out of the crystal.

Then—

“Are you trying to make me your host?”

Was it trying to infect him like the other monsters, turning him into one of its minions?

“No way in hell, you bastard!”

How could he let this happen after getting a second chance?

This was his only opportunity to change his damned life.

Ssssssssss!

But regardless of Damian’s will, the magic infiltrating his body continued to expand its presence.

And soon—

Whooosh!

The magic found the perfect place to settle.

It began to take root in his magic core, located in his lower abdomen.

The empty space within his magic core was now filled with dark magic.

The magic, still not satisfied, began pushing against the walls of his core.

“Aaaaaagh!”

Damian’s small magic core was being overwhelmed and torn apart by the invading magic.

The amount of magic surpassed what the core could handle, yet it continued to force its way in.

Damian broke into a cold sweat, his jaw clenched tight against the searing pain that felt like his abdomen was being sliced open.

Tremble, tremble.

His whole body shook.

Blood trickled down from his tightly clenched teeth, dripping alongside his lips.

‘It’s… breaking…!’

Was his magic core going to shatter again?

Was this miraculous second chance at life going to disappear just like this?

But as cracks formed in Damian’s core—

Sssssss!

Was the magic trying to protect what it saw as its new home?

The dark magic began to mend the cracks in his magic core, gradually expanding its size.

What was once barely the size of a walnut started to grow until it reached the size of a fist.

An expanded magic core.

Flash!

Damian’s eyes widened at the sight.

He didn’t fully understand what was happening, but—

‘This… this is a once-in-a-lifetime chance!’

The mana core that had refused to grow had finally expanded.

Now, all that was left was to avoid being consumed by the dark magic and to expel it completely.

Crunch!

Damian could hear the sound of his molars grinding painfully, but he focused all his willpower on controlling the magic.

‘My whole life, I’ve survived on sheer willpower…!’

Stubbornness and grit.

That was eighty percent of what had made Damian who he was.

Was he going to lose to something as formless as dark magic?

“Aaaaaargh!”

Crack! Craaack!

He could hear something breaking inside his body.

Damian began to wield the magic like mana, trying to expel it from his body.

But the dark magic tried to coil around his insides, struggling for dominance.

Damian and the dark magic locked in a fierce battle of will.

Wooooong!

At that moment, the residual mana that hadn’t entered Damian’s magic core began to react.

Whoooosh!

The mana started to fuse with the dark magic inside Damian.

Ziiiiiing!

Suddenly, Damian felt another force entering his body from the outside.

―Don’t give up!

A warm, comforting voice echoed in his mind.

The sound was muffled, like listening underwater.

Flash!

Damian absorbed the gentle energy, using it to purify the dark magic.

How much time had passed?

Rumble, rumble, rumble!

Damian’s body began to tremble uncontrollably.

The magic that had invaded him lifted him into the air.

Fwoooosh!

With a blinding light, Damian’s body began to reconstruct itself.

Crack! Snap! Crunch!

Bones that hadn’t yet fully grown reformed and expanded.

Squelch!

The dark impurities of the magic inside his body were expelled as thick, black sludge.

With a nauseating stench, Damian’s physical reconstruction was completed.

And finally—

Whoooosh!

Purified mana rapidly filled Damian’s now greatly expanded magic core.

Thud.

Damian, now standing, gripped his spear.

The crystal, once a bright amethyst, now glowed with a murky, near-black purple.

‘I don’t know exactly what just happened…’

But his body was overflowing with strength.

Damian pressed off the ground, spear in hand.

Boom!

A burst of speed.

In an instant, Damian dashed toward the crystal, twisting his body as he thrust his spear with all his might.

“Break!”

The moment Damian’s spear struck the crystal’s center again—

BOOOOOOM!

With a deafening roar, the crystal shattered like sand, scattering in every direction.

“Grrrrraaaaah!”

“Screeeech!”

“Roooaaaar!”

The three giant monsters clutched their heads and screamed in agony.

The task force members who were fighting them quickly retreated.

“Fall back! Fall back!”

“The crystal is destroyed! We did it!”

“Everyone, pull back!”

No one knew what would happen next.

Bertos, trying to calm his pounding heart, kept his guard up.

Thud!

The giant monsters collapsed.

The task force members cautiously watched the unmoving bodies, swallowing nervously.

“Are they… dead?”

Tarion stepped forward and examined the fallen monsters.

Their eyes had gone lifeless.

Seeing the monsters lying there, dead with their tongues hanging out, Tarion finally let out a deep breath.

“Hah… They’re all dead!”

“Damn… We did it.”

“Is it over?”

Everyone felt like collapsing.

Facing magic-tainted giant monsters had been as dangerous as it was exhausting.

Swoosh.

“That guy…”

Tarion turned to look at Damian.

Dianal and Kyle were hugging him, celebrating.

Tarion couldn’t help but smile.

He chuckled softly.

“He really is one of a kind.”

Just as he had felt the first time he saw Damian.

A long smile spread across Tarion’s face.

* * *

“Screeeeeech!”

The entire Bronselian Forest echoed with a ghostly wail.

The crystal, which had held dark magic, had shattered, and hundreds of monsters died instantly.

Thud, thud, thud!

The sight was truly spectacular.

The creatures that had been baring their fangs moments ago were now lying lifeless.

The soldiers felt a mix of relief and a strange sense of emptiness.

“…Is it really over?”

“We… we’re alive… we made it!”

It hadn’t been a long battle.

But in that short time, nearly half the subjugation force had died.

The memories of comrades being torn apart and screaming as they were mauled by monsters.

The sight of heads being crushed and bodies being ripped apart by the monsters’ axes and clubs.

The faces of those who had begged for their lives would forever be etched in their minds.

“We won… We won!”

“We did it!”

“Uwaaaaaaaah!”

The surviving soldiers shouted in a mix of tears and joy.

Watching them, Wilkis silently turned toward where the task force had gone.

“…They really succeeded.”

He had thought they might fail.

He had thought that this place could become his grave.

“…I survived too.”

The subjugation of Bronselian Forest had been the last chance given to a failure.

If he hadn’t seized this opportunity, he knew it would have been the end for him as well.

But the subjugation was a success.

He had earned himself another chance.

Wilkis gazed in the direction where the task force had gone. And there—

“The task force is returning!”

“They’re coming back!”

In the distance, the task force slowly came into view.

They all looked utterly worn out, but—

“Hm?”

At the very front walked a man.

He had seemed like a boy when they had set out, but now something felt distinctly different about him.

But Wilkis recognized him instantly.

This was the hero who had ended it all.

“…I owe him a debt.”

Murmuring quietly, Wilkis began walking toward the heroes who had accomplished something great.