She Professed Herself The Pupil Of The Wiseman (LN) - Volume 2 - Chapter 12

Chapter 12

THE LUNCH PREPARED by Asval and Zef was so fine that it wouldn’t have been out of place if served in a fancy restaurant. Completely satisfied, Mira sipped her after-meal tea and sighed, her face the picture of contentment.

“You know what? This place is actually pretty nice. Even for a dungeon,” Zef muttered as he lay back and stared at the ceiling.

“Oh, that’s right, we’re still in a dungeon,” said Flicker absently.

Asval rolled his eyes. “Oof, I almost forgot.”

Mira drained the last of her tea and tucked her dishes back into her Item Box. Then she rose to her feet and stretched her back.

“Well now, with everything taken care of, I suppose it’s time we head back.”

This portion of her mission was done. She’d come to the Ancient Temple to search for the whereabouts of Soul Howl and she was leaving empty-handed, save for some clues as to where he might have gone. Her business concluded, she quickly began preparations to depart.

“Yes, let’s,” said Emella, clearing away her own dishes and strapping her sword back to her waist. “No matter how safe this may seem, we are still in the deepest reaches of a dungeon, after all.”

“All right.”

“Good point. Let’s be off.”

“We’re outta here!”

The other members of the guild voiced their agreement as they climbed to their feet and lightly stretched themselves in preparation for the long climb back to the entrance. Tact quickly reclaimed his position at Mira’s side.

With everyone ready, the group left the giant white castle and headed across the rugged terrain to the stairs leading to the upper levels. The even lighting of the crystals was eerie, leaving no shadows on the ground as they journeyed forth.

“Wait, is there something out there?” Zef said as he stopped and stared out toward the lake.

The smooth, circular shape of the lake made it look as if someone had taken a massive spoon and scooped out the bedrock. Its surface glistened and sparkled in the glow of the crystals, and a faint luminescence could be seen just beneath the surface of the water.

“You’re seeing things,” Asval replied as he squinted toward the water. “There aren’t any monsters down here, and even the most curious adventurers don’t bother coming down this far. It’s just the shimmer playing tricks in the corner of your eye.”

“Hrmm, Zef’s correct. We’re not alone.” Mira searched the area with her Biometric Scan and something pinged on her radar. She moved to shield Tact with her body. “Don’t know what it is, but it’s big and it’s in the lake.”

Asval pulled his hammer from his back with a weary sigh. “Gimme a break! What the heck would even be down here?!”

“That’s right, there shouldn’t be any monsters on this level,” said Emella as she readied her sword.

A moment later, the lake’s surface began to ripple. The party tensed at the strange undulations and readied themselves for battle. Whatever it was, they had to deal with it now. If it surfaced after they started up the stairs, there would be no way to fight it in a coordinated manner.

A column of water burst from the lake accompanied by a roar of noise. The spray refracted the light of the crystals and from within a pitch-black shadow emerged to leap forth and land before the party.

“What the heck?!” blurted Asval.

“What’s…what’s that doing here?!” Emella cried out.

It was entirely black. Though it had a humanoid shape, its form was unnatural and swollen. Claws jutted from the tips of its fingers, and it clicked them together as it peered at them through slit-pupil eyes. It lacked a nose, two twisted horns arose from its head, and bat-like wings sprouted from its back.

It looked just like the beings that had plunged the world into chaos only ten years earlier.

“Oh hell, it’s a demon…” muttered Zephard.

“I thought they were wiped out…” Flicker stared wide-eyed at the alien creature standing before them.

“What’s a demon doing in this place?” Mira wondered aloud.

Quickly summoning a Holy Knight, she ordered it to protect Tact without taking her eyes off the monster. Giving the boy a light shove in the opposite direction, she ordered, “Go, hide yourself in the castle.”

Taking a last look at the demon, Tact nodded and fled, with the Holy Knight following close behind.

Demons. The archenemy of mankind. The ten years prior, the Defense of the Three Great Kingdoms had been an all-out war for survival between humanity and the demon-led forces of monsters. At great cost, humanity had triumphed and the demons were destroyed. 

Yet the being before them was unmistakably a demon.

A vision of the woman in the castle throne room rose in Mira’s mind. Perhaps this was the cause of her plight. With no way to ascertain the particulars of the marking on her back, she couldn’t be sure—but there was little doubt that they were in a fight for their lives, here and now.

“To think I’d find anyone in a place like this.” The demon’s voice was distorted, as though it were speaking underwater. A massive scythe appeared in its hands. “What luck! You’ll make fine offerings.”

“Looks like there’s only one way out of this,” Zef said uneasily as he drew his daggers and crouched low.

The rest of the party readied themselves as well. Emella and Asval braced against surprise strikes, crouching low to prepare for an attack. Flicker withdrew her deck of cards and made ready to cast.

Mira warily kept watch over the beast and pondered her next move. A demon on the sixth floor of the Ancient Temple was unheard of—but observing your enemy was the first step in defeating your enemy. This called for use of Inspect.

“Hrmm… A third-rank count? Well, now, do you think you’ll be able to handle us?”

“A count?” Asval had faced demons before. When he’d first become an adventurer, black clouds had covered the sky and swarms of demons poured forth. He still recalled the memories vividly. So many adventurers were overrun, including those he’d looked up to. Was he stronger now than they had been then?

He shook his head to dispel his own doubts. There was no avoiding this.

“We can’t take something like this head-on unless we’re willing to make sacrifices,” Asval said painfully as he stared at the creature, the memories of the heroes who had destroyed the attacking demons filling his mind.

Back in the game, a lowly third-rank baron was more than a match for a rookie player. The hierarchy of demons had baron at the bottom, then viscount, and then count. Assuming the level of difficulty hadn’t changed, an opponent of this strength would have required at least six top-level players.

Or one Wise Man.

“Hrmm, very well, then.” Mira glanced between the pained expressions of Asval and Emella. It was clear that the members of Écarlate Carillon recognized the difficulty of this foe.

I haven’t really had a chance to test my limits since arriving in this world…

Many years before, she’d defeated a third-rank duke—but that was in-game with proper equipment and plenty of restoratives. Now she had to contend with the consequences of the world being real, amplified by the fact that she’d given some of her best gear to Cleos.

Her anxiety was building. She hadn’t experienced proper combat in this world and wasn’t prepared to risk her own life. She’d been hoping to gradually acclimate to this new reality, but now it seemed that she’d been tossed into the deep end. How far could she push this new body?

But everything she knew—her experience, skills, and knowledge—stemmed from the world as a game. Based on that, the demon before her was no match for a member of the Nine Wise Men.

“Stand back. I’ll take care of him,” she declared, her voice low, as she stepped forward alongside Asval and Emella.

She’d only known them for a short while, but there was no doubt in her mind that her party members were fundamentally good people. She could protect them. Her decision was made.

“But it’s a demon! No matter how strong you might be, you just can’t!” Emella gasped, not taking her eyes from their foe.

“Call Alfina! I know it takes time to summon her…but we can buy you that time.” Asval gripped his hammer and made a probing lunge at the enemy.

Mira didn’t spare them a glance. Instead, she summoned a Dark Knight before her, and her minion hit the ground running.

“We don’t have time for that!” she shouted over the high-pitched sound of clashing metal. 

Echoes and shockwaves of the Dark Knight’s collision with the demon rippled through the air. Her summoned spirit turned aside the destructive power of the demon’s scythe with its greatsword.

“How?!” Cold sweat trickled down Asval’s forehead.

Emella was unable to react—all she could do was point her sword toward the demon and watch. The clash served as an illustration of the beast’s power.

“All of you, fall back!” Mira shouted to the members of Écarlate Carillon.

“But we can’t just…” Emella began, turning to look at Asval out of the corner of her eye.

Mira might be a powerful summoner, but how could they leave this battle resting solely on the shoulders of a child? Yet the demon’s clash with the Dark Knight left no doubt in their mind that they were hopelessly outclassed in this fight. The best they could do would simply serve as a momentary distraction.

Voices rang out behind them.

“Come on, you two, back to the castle!”

“Yeah! That’s our best option!”

Turning, they saw Flicker and Zef desperately gesturing at them to run.

Just as they were about to protest, Flicker continued, “Mira can’t use her full power if you’re in the way!”

As a mage, Flicker could see the magical power of the demon enveloping it like a ghostly shroud, but she could also see Mira’s power growing and threatening to overwhelm the dark force.

“Sorry, little miss! We’re leaving this to you!” called Asval.

“Mira, if it gets too dangerous—run for it! We’ll find some way to hold it off!” insisted Emella as she began to back away.

Exchanging a glance, the two warriors fell back. Mira didn’t speak, but simply gave a nod and a bold smirk.

Taking one more look back as they ran, Asval saw the image of a legendary hero superimposed over the girl’s small figure.

“It can’t be,” he muttered, certain that it was just the stress of the situation getting to him.

“Ha! You friends have abandoned you, human. You are powerful, but your struggle will be in vain,” said the demon as he forced the Dark Knight back with the sound of shearing metal. “Introductions are in order, I believe. I am Wolf Bane, Soultaker of Valnares.”

The demon finished his introduction by offering a polite bow. Demon he may be, but Wolf Bane bore the rank of count and carried the pride of nobility. His wickedness was wrapped in a warped mockery of courtesy.

“I’m Mira, a summoner, as you can see.” She gestured to the Dark Knight, then sketched a slight bow of her own.

“Heh heh heh. A summoner? Then I need only destroy your armor spirit to end this little skirmish.”

With that, he leapt into the air and swung a blow with all his might, combining his strength and gravity to bring his weapon down upon the Dark Knight. Amid the tortured clash of metal on metal was the sound of the rock beneath the spirit’s feet crumbling and caving in.

Using its sword to block the blow, the Dark Knight proved stronger than the earth beneath it—but as the ground gave way, the summoned spirit lost its footing, and Wolf Bane didn’t waste the opportunity.

The moment his feet hit the ground, he twisted his upper body and swung his scythe sideways with immense force. The blade sang through the air, then bit deep into the side of the off-balance armor spirit. The demon’s power and the concussive force of the blow sent the Dark Knight flying.

“Now your knight in shining armor is no more, little princess!” Wolf Bane’s face contorted in pleasure as he turned and targeted Mira with a downward strike.

But the black blade pierced nothing but stone. The girl who had been there only moments before had vanished, leaving only an illusion in her stead.

“Where did she…?!”

[Immortal Arts, Heaven: Refined Thrust]

From the demon’s blind spot, Mira slipped in close and pummeled it using one of her immortal techniques. The layered shockwaves crashed into the unwary demon like a raging tempest.

Hrmm… That seemed to do a little damage. Mira watched Wolf Bane’s distorted face as he flew through the air before slamming into the bedrock.

Keeping the demon in sight, Mira lightly flexed her hands to check the feedback from the attack. Based on what she’d felt from her fists, there was almost no difference in the feeling of combat from when she fought using her VR rig.

There was a difference in reach—but that was more the result of inhabiting a smaller body than Danblf’s. She quickly found she could compensate for that with an extra half-step forward. As a bonus, the smaller body made it easier to slip inside her foe’s guard. One touch had allowed her to analyze so much.

Another worrying factor was the physical difference that came with being real instead of virtual. Air resistance and actual gravity governed the laws of nature instead of a computer’s physics engine. But given the success of her first strike, the changes seemed minute, and she was adjusting with every passing second.

But not every difference was a hindrance—her senses were clearer, and she could feel what was around her. The intuitive flow of her whole body allowed her to be much more responsive. 

The fundamental basis for Mira’s strength was her accumulated experience and her ability to combine her various acquired skills on the fly. Power In Ark Earth Online had ultimately resided in the imagination and skill of the player rather than a random number generator, and as she squared off against the demon, she found that not much had changed.

A brand-new player with prior martial arts or swordsmanship experience was often able to defeat mid-level monsters or oppose player characters using just that physical knowledge. Which meant that to become stronger, players not only had to improve their skills within the system but also in real life.

One player, Kenoh Kojiro the Fist, was famous for fighting monsters in hand-to-hand combat before going on to win national karate tournaments. They stopped only when their body reached its limits. With her abilities in close combat as a Sage of the immortal arts, Mira could pass for a world-class martial artist when it came to skill.

With discipline and practice, you too might be able to fight demons one day.

Wolf Bane rose from the bedrock, brushing off crushed stone and dust as he stood. He glared at Mira. “Damn you! What was that?!”

“Just a little tap. Was it too much for you?”

Mira sucked in a series of deep breaths as she expanded her consciousness, remembering who she had been in the game and applying it to the present. She could feel Danblf’s power still flowing through her, and she smiled. The pleasant tingle of the excitement of battle was nostalgic and welcome.

“Don’t get cocky, girl!”

Her smile stoked Wolf Bane’s fury, and red flames billowed from the scythe in his hands as his anger grew. Raising the weapon, the demon lunged forward, and the fires roared as he slashed at her.

Mira dodged to the side with a flash of footwork, but the demon twisted to strike at her again. Yet she was no more than an illusion, and Wolf Bane slid across the ground with another resounding thud.

Mira gave a little smirk. “I should thank you. You’ve helped me regain my form.”

The demon stormed forward and she met him with more illusions. At the onset of the fight, her movements had been large and overly evasive, but with each exchange, they grew more refined.

Now she was operating from pure muscle memory. As the demon attacked again, she slipped by the scythe by a paper-thin margin, juking inside of the foul count’s reach and thrusting her fist into Wolf Bane’s stomach.

“You think you’re so clever!” he screamed as he doubled over in pain.

After countless such pokes and prods, the demon flew into a rage. He was at the mercy of a little girl! For a noble of his pedigree, the situation was insufferable.

The scythe whined as he placed his full weight into the next strike, but Mira easily avoided it. Crimson flames seared the ground as his attack went wide, and Mira turned to go on the offensive. 

Seizing the momentum, she spun around and kicked the back of one of the demon’s knees, where his thick, black hide was the weakest. As he crumpled from the blow, she ran up his back and placed her right hand between the horns on his head.

[Immortal Arts Earth: Crimson Bouquet]

Her palm glowed red as she concentrated her will, and a directional blast of flame burst forth onto the demon’s scalp.

“Gaah!” Wolf Bane tumbled across the ground, cradling his scorched head in his hands as he staggered back to his feet. His eyes were filled with an insane fury.

“Hrmm… Looks like special techniques are the way to go.”

All of Mira’s many prior strikes had hurt the demon, but Wolf Bane’s tough hide left him largely uninjured and her knuckles sore and red. That didn’t surprise her—her current physical abilities weren’t too far off from a standard mage, since she’d given Cleos her equipment that’d strengthened her constitution.

Most of the immortal arts were affected by a player’s physical stats. She could compensate for that with her high magical ability, but her lack of strength still resulted in lower attack power.

The true battle style for practitioners of the immortal arts was a blend between physical strikes and wizardry. For most opponents, martial arts were sufficient to ensure victory, but it looked like Mira was going to have to lean on the more mystical aspect of her second class to see this battle through.

[Immortal Hidden Arts: True Sight]

Lightly closing her eyes, Mira focused her senses as she had when she was Danblf. As her eyelids slowly opened, they revealed pupils dyed as blue as the midday sky. The buff increased all her abilities and strengthened any other immortal art technique she might choose to use. 

The spike in magical power was visible to Flicker, who was watching the battle from a castle balcony. The vast rush of power almost threatened to swallow her own consciousness as the pressure wave nearly knocked her off her feet.

“What’s wrong, Flicker?” Emella asked, reaching out to steady her guildmate.

“Something about Mira changed. She’s gotten stronger…more intense.” Wobbling as she stood back up, she stared out at Mira. The rest of the party shuffled nervously and made sure they had a clear line of retreat into the stone building. Just in case…

The battle between Mira and the demon shifted into a new phase. Having regained his wits enough to stop lashing out randomly at Mira’s many illusions, Wolf Bane wreathed his hands in black flame and went on the offensive once more.

As Mira dodged a downward swing of his weapon, the black flames continued to chase her and pressed the attack.

[Immortal Arts Earth: Enveloping Gale]

Cool winds enveloped her body, driving away the chasing flames. She took the opportunity to dart inside the demon’s guard and drove the heel of her palm into a spot just below his ribs. The power of the winds coiled around her hand, creating a vacuum at their epicenter and a high-speed vortex orbiting her fist.

“Hrng!” he grunted, staggering back.

Despite the pain, he mustered his strength and took a large step forward, swiping upward with his scythe. Even the force of her wind couldn’t deflect it. The heat of the flame in its wake forced Mira to step back. The demon followed through by thrusting his off hand forward, to chase her back with a fist full of black fire.

“Oho! Not bad, lowlife!” Dispelling the wind and crossing her arms, Mira fixed Wolf Bane with her shining blue eyes.

“You dare mock me, little girl?!” With a shout of rage, his magical power intensified. The black flames grew, climbing up his arms to cover his entire body before erupting up toward the roof of the cavern. “If you won’t submit, I’ll burn this whole place down!”

The blaze collapsed, wrapping around the demon, and Wolf Bane—now a jet-black sun—roared and shot forward like a cannonball.

“Witness your doom!”

His scythe glowed from the intense heat of the black flame. Thanks to Mira’s True Sight, she saw the upward swing racing toward her, shattering the earth beneath it.

“Not today!” In the same moment, she used both her Immortal Arts: Refined Thrust and Immortal Arts, Movement: Shrinking Earth to close the gap between her and the demon in an instant. 

Her speed caused the air in her path to condense into a shockwave as she flew forward, piercing the black flame and slowing the demon’s momentum. The sudden hole in his defenses opened up an inviting opportunity.

“What…?!” he screamed as she launched another Immortal Arts: Refined Thrust at point-blank range.

Wolf Bane flew into the air, scattering his black flames—but despite the pain, he somehow managed to spread his wings and hover above the battlefield. The toughness of the demon’s hide was not to be underestimated.

“Damn you, child! What will it take to end you?!” Confident in his safety aloft, the demon gritted his teeth and bitterly weighed his next move.

[Immortal Arts, Earth: Raging Strike]

A series of shockwaves erupted from Mira’s palm, growing to an unstoppable crescendo before crashing into the flying demon. The fury blew Wolf Bane back, and he smacked into the uneven stone below, unable to stay airborne. Amid the sound of shattering stone, Mira advanced with her eyes fixated on the demon crawling from the rubble.

“I never thought I’d find a human as skilled as you.”

Even after taking point-blank hits from immortal techniques, the demonic count still wasn’t showing much sign of injury.

“And I didn’t think demons came as tough as you,” Mira grumbled as she kept the demon in her sight.

“I feel nothing!” he roared. “My body is too strong for your feeble attacks!”

“You’ve been a good opponent,” Mira said. “But it’s time to end this.”

[Forbidden Immortal Arts: Unsealed Demon’s Eye]

Her right eye darkened while the pupil began to emit a golden glow, gleaming like an evil moon in a pitch-black sky. Pierced by her stare, Wolf Bane was overcome with fear and trembled uncontrollably at the predatory aura rolling off the girl in waves.

[Forbidden Immortal Arts: Paralyzing Demon’s Gaze]

He tried to point his flame-cloaked scythe back toward the ceiling. But a moment later, the weapon slipped from his hand as he lost control of his grip.

“What…ugh…paralysis?!” he shrieked. “Such impudence! You cheat, you cheat!”

The technique immobilized foes caught in the gaze of the Demon’s Eye and would begin to destroy them from within—so long as Mira could hold her target within her vision for long enough. Thankfully, Wolf Bane’s fall from the air had caused him to land slightly farther away, giving her a wider field of view.

“No… Nooooooo!” Wolf Bane shouted as he fought the paralysis.

First fingers, then arms, then his shoulders slowly broke free. Mira knew that demons were highly resistant to status effects, and the only reason the paralysis had worked even for a short time was due to her overwhelming magical ability.

“I should’ve known it wouldn’t hold a demon for long,” she said.

But a short time was all she needed.

She’d been able to overpower Wolf Bane, knocking him down time and time again—but the demon’s iron constitution proved to be a problem. She could hold him at bay, but her Sage arts would take forever to whittle away at his defenses.

“Time to wrap this up.”

The moment she spoke, the demon’s body froze—not from her paralyzing gaze but from the sudden presence that appeared just behind him. He reflexively tried to turn, but his movement was still slowed, and his eyes went wide as a jet-black blade pierced through his chest.

“Guh…ohhh… It can’t be…” Choking on the dark blood that filled his mouth, he continued to fight to turn around with his face showing astonishment.

Behind him were the flickering red eyes of the Dark Knight, still active and still deadly.

While fists may not have been an effective weapon against a demon of this caliber, the keen blade of Mira’s spirit was up to the task. All it needed was a distraction to create an opening for a piercing attack.

“How did you…when? I destroyed it…”

“My Dark Knights are tough customers.” Mira strolled up to the demon, each step a testament to her unshakable victory.

“How could I be defeated…like this?”

“I told you at the start—I’m a summoner.”

“I…see.”

Standing before Wolf Bane, Mira stared at him with her True Sight and Demon’s Eye. He looked back, smiling faintly. His expression was one of respect at an honorable defeat.

The Dark Knight pulled its great sword free before readying the blade for another blow.

“Splendid…” Wolf Bane began to mutter an instant before the armor spirit chopped through the demon’s neck. The body collapsed into a heap, and Wolf Bane’s fallen head stared upward at the cave’s ceiling in satisfaction.

Dark blood dripped from the spirit’s blade, etching a black star into the bedrock that would never fade.