Genius Warlock

Mother Bathory finished introducing herself.

After casting a warmth spell on Willes, Oliver turned around and replied.

"…Hello. My name is Zenon Bright, a personal staff member of the Magic Tower's professor. It's an honor to meet you."

Oliver greeted her with etiquette, as he had learned from the Angels house servants.

The reaction wasn't bad, indicating that the servants' efforts were not in vain.

"You've got the hang of greetings, huh?"

"I learned from kind people."

"You've learned well, but if you really want to be polite, you should give your real name, not a pseudonym."

"My real name?"

"Yes, there's no way someone who can freely use the magic of various attributes, and mix emotions and mana in their usage, is just an ordinary staff member, right?"

"Oh… Were you watching?"

"Where there's blood, my eyes can reach."

As Bathory answered, she raised her hand, and the ice turned red, reflecting the appearance of various parts of the lab.

"That's amazing."

"Enough with the flattery. Men's flattery tends to hurt. Rather, can I hear your real name?"

Oliver fell silent for a moment.

"Um… I'm really sorry, but I don't think I can answer that question, Lady Bathory."

"Oh, they say all men of the kingdom are gentlemen, but I guess that was a lie. It's sad that you won't reveal your identity even when a woman asks."

"I'm truly sorry. I would appreciate it if you could understand. It's not just my problem."

"Not just your problem… That means someone helped you, right? To get a job at the Magic Tower? It wouldn't be an ordinary position if they employed a warlock… At least master level?"

Bathory demonstrated her sharp deduction skills based on Oliver's words.

Oliver only responded with silence.

"Hahaha… It seems I guessed right. Don't worry too much. I was just curious about who you are. I didn't mean to make things difficult for you."

"Really?"

"Yes, there are quite a few warlocks who use magic, but very few mix emotions and mana in their usage. Especially like you… Where did you learn it?"

"I learned black magic from my master, but I figured out how to mix mana and emotions on my own."

"By yourself?"

"Yes."

Bathory looked at Oliver with surprise, trying to figure out whether he was lying or telling the truth, but she couldn't tell.

Oliver's emotional fluctuations were so minimal that it was difficult to discern his true feelings.

So, Bathory decided to shake Oliver up by throwing out words mixed with flattery and provocation.

"…That's an incredible talent. To master such a technique by yourself, if that's true, you really possess an amazing gift. If it's true, that is."

"Is that so?"

"Well, the technique you use is neither magic nor black magic, but a level higher than those. As evidence, your flames surpassed the rules of magic and instantly harmed my daughters, didn't they?"

That was true.

In fact, the female warlocks hadn't been defeated because of their lack of skill or stupidity.

It was just that Oliver was an existence beyond common sense.

Not only did he access the blood pool that could only be used by the Bathory family, but his Greed Fire, which even used ice magic as firewood, was an attack completely beyond existing common sense.

Even those far more skilled than the female warlocks would have no choice but to be overwhelmed.

Perhaps that's why? Bathory's emotions slowly turned to greed.

It was an emotion Oliver had seen before when he faced Cook in District X.

Cook coveted Oliver's talent and skills, trying to consume him.

"Thank you for the compliment. But isn't your blood magic, which uses both emotions and mana, also praiseworthy?”

"I appreciate the compliment, but that's not the case.”

“Is that so?”

"Yes, indeed. As you said, my blood magic mixes emotions and mana, but it requires blood as a medium. Despite having researched for a long time and stealing the talents of many people, there are limits."

Bathory's words were sincere, especially the last part.

"May I ask a question as well, if that's alright?”

"By all means.”

Oliver asked while looking at the ice-covered floor.

“I don't understand, so I'm asking, but why did you raid the Life School research lab? I heard from your daughters that you were in a cooperative relationship with the Life School faction.”

"More accurately, we used to be in a cooperative relationship.”

"Used to be?”

"Yes. The Life School faction deceived me. I hate being deceived more than anything.”

Bathory was sincere, and her hatred was palpable.

"What did they deceive you about?”

"They proposed a trade, saying they had obtained interesting blood. They would provide blood, and I would provide knowledge. I was interested and accepted, but surprisingly, they gave me fake blood. They even used the blood magic I taught them.”

"Ah……"

"So, I came here directly to get my fair share. I heard they were researching ‘that blood' here.”

Bathory finished her story with a smile, but Oliver could sense her anger.

She seemed to be very upset.

"Then, have you found what you were looking for?”

"No, it seems I was a step late, and it's not here.”

"Then, why didn't you just leave? Why did you kidnap other lab staff and even nearby residents?”

“I can't just go back empty-handed, can I? Instead of pheasants, I'll take chickens – I have to take something else. The Life School faction's research data, corpses, skin, fresh blood, and so on… If I'm lucky, I might meet interesting people like you. Ah! Are you planning to criticize me for kidnapping people?”

Bathory seemed to be surprised and made a theatrical gesture before asking.

Oliver denied it.

"No, I am not in a position to judge that. I was just curious."

"Oh, that's a relief."

"Would you mind if I make a suggestion?"

"Go ahead."

"Although you haven't found what you were looking for, it seems that you have gathered enough materials, corpses, and blood from the Life School. Can you please back off at this point?"

"Oh, would that be okay? After all, you're a member of the tower."

"I was sent here to find out what was going on, not to fight with you."

Bathory seemed interested.

"Hmm, that's not a bad suggestion. I'd like to squeeze more out of it, but it's not a loss to back off at this point. However, because of you and your colleague, my daughters are all dead, and I am sad. I want to be compensated for this sadness. What do you think?"

"I'm sorry, but you're not actually sad, are you?"

Oliver read Bathory's emotions and said that. Bathory's feelings after losing the female warlocks were closer to regret than sadness.

It was like regretting the loss of useful tools. It was not sadness.

"No, I am sad. Do you know how much effort it takes to make each of them trust and follow me as their Mother? Teaching them black magic and magic is also a task. And more than anything…"

"More than anything?"

"It's so frustrating to back off now with such a tempting ingredient right in front of me."

With that, Bathory spread her magic, manipulating the surrounding ice and launching a massive icicle.

Oliver used his shadow tentacles to block the incoming icicle and stretched the shadow beneath Bathory to create a shadow spike.

THUD

Bathory was impaled from below. She then gradually lost her color and eventually turned into a hard ice sculpture filled with blood.

An illusion that mixed ice magic and blood magic.

Bathory, who hid her body, was unharmed as she imbued the ice with magic and shot icicles toward Oliver from all directions.

Oliver, without panicking, used his shadow tentacles to defend against the attacks from all sides and fired a Las bullet toward the place he had previously noticed.

[Las Bullet]

The Hate bullet carrying the Las bomb quickly flew and stuck into the ice floor, causing a considerable explosion shortly after.

With the explosion shaking the interior, ice particles turned the surroundings white like dust, and the attacks that had been rushing in from all directions stopped for a moment.

Together with that, a woman revealed herself. It was none other than Bathory.

"How did you know I was here?"

"It looked just a little bit different."

"You have good eyes… I like you even more."

Instead of getting angry that her camouflage was discovered, Bathory showed satisfaction towards the blue-eyed youth. Her greed for Oliver grew stronger.

Oliver sensed that there was no way to avoid a fight and took his stance. Bathory smirked sinisterly.

"Are you okay with this?"

With a cunning smile, Oliver looked back at Willes.

Willes was half-devoured by the ice that moved by magic.

"If you resist even a little, your colleague will-"

[Greed Fire]

? ? ? ? ? ?

Before Bathory could finish her sentence, Oliver mixed the mana and emotions, creating a black flame.

The Greed Fire, designed to devour magic, ignored the laws of magic and consumed the surrounding ice, increasing its size and covering the entire space in an instant.

Kwahahahahahahahahang——!!!!

Thanks to that, a massive wall of fire formed between Oliver and Bathory, and Oliver took the opportunity to rescue Willes.

Although swept up in the Greed Fire, fortunately, Willes managed to escape the ice with only minor burns.

Oliver took out a piece of paper from his pocket, imbued it with mana, activated the stored spell, and opened a portal.

The portal led to a relatively safe location within the Chimera Research Facility. Oliver threw Willes into the portal to evacuate, then extracted his emotions to wrap three layers of the black suit around his body.

With the minimum preparation done, it was time to control the rampaging Greed Fire and suppress Bathory…

———Crrrack!!!

The sound of the air tearing apart.

The blood trapped in the ice didn't burn in the Greed Fire but responded to Bathory's will, transforming into a crimson blade and slicing through the air.

Surprisingly, the blood blade not only cut through the Greed Fire but also neutralized it.

As evidence, the black flame, which should have no physical form, disappeared with its unique roaring sound.

"That was quite hot."

Bathory, who had been swept up by the Greed Fire, walked out of the flame and spoke.

The fact that she said it was hot was not a lie; she had suffered terrible burns all over her body, but that was only for a moment.

As she absorbed the floating blood, she returned to her original form.

"Can you control blood like that?"

"Only I can. And it seems you can use spatial magic as well?"

"I learned it through practice."

"I like you even more. Your judgment, too."

With that, Bathory moved her fingers and sent the blood blade, which had neutralized the Greed Fire, flying towards Oliver.

(To be Continued)

OR

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