Chapter 105

“Let’s see. A body mutated by magic power and darkness turns out like this, huh.”

“Graaaah….”

I straightened the man pinned to the ground, re-securing him before carefully dissecting his body with a blade conjured from magic.

Skin. Sturdy as hell. It has such a tough texture that most blades would just bounce off, and each strand of hair possesses considerable strength, giving it the feel of scale armor made from fur.

The muscles beneath are also quite formidable, sinewy enough that they won’t easily split unless cut along their grain.

Hm. The basic muscle structure is similar to humans, differing only in size, but thanks to mutation by magic and darkness, its strength and durability have been absurdly enhanced.

Since the absorption of pieces of Erebus was possible due to magic, at least it’s somewhat fortunate that those who can’t handle magic wouldn’t mutate so easily.

The blood is much darker than normal red, almost blackish crimson. Hmm… Is this because the piece of Erebus has dissolved into the bloodstream, circulating throughout the body? Quite peculiar. I’ll check this further when examining the heart.

As for the internal organs overall… Hm. The organ structure doesn’t differ much from humans, though the size has changed. The arrangement itself isn’t too different from a human’s.

“Gruuuaaahh…”

“So resilient vitality even without anesthesia after being sliced open like this. Truly impressive.”

An ordinary human would’ve died from the pain alone.

“Ugh…”

“Hmm? Why do you look so shocked? You’ve seen creatures being cut before, haven’t you? And you’ve surely slain more than a few yourself, right?”

“It’s true, but even after all this… thinking about him as a human makes my stomach churn a bit.”

“Hmm… ‘Human.’ Human, eh?”

I stared coldly at the man lying there, now transformed into something akin to a demon, and spoke.

“Do you still consider this a human?”

“But…”

“He’s no longer human. Driven by insatiable curiosity and greed, he tampered with forces best left untouched. His intelligence disappeared, leaving behind only the pursuit of raw power. If we call this a human, then beastmen, dwarves, elves, lizardmen—they’d all be considered human too.”

After such transformations, he’s moved further away from humanity than any of those races.

It wouldn’t be wrong to say he’s become an entirely separate species.

“In case you ever encounter another one like this, slice off their head quickly. That would be the merciful choice for someone who’s undergone such a transformation.”

“Yes…”

The hero nodded faintly, though clearly still struggling to accept it. But what can you do? This is the grim reality.

“By the way, how long do you plan to keep dissecting him?”

“Hmm. Just need to check around the heart area, and then we’re done.”

I split open the chest, lifting the ribs to reveal the heart hidden behind the lungs.

Its dark crimson color matched the tainted blood, revealing its alien nature.

But the real focus wasn’t the heart.

Carefully separating the surrounding organs, I eventually found what I was looking for.

A pitch-black mana stone embedded behind the heart.

This could be called a demon’s mana stone.

It contained a significant amount of Erebus fragments.

Judging by its placement, it seems to dissolve these fragments into the blood, which circulates through the entire body, causing physical mutations. Hmm.

Not a pleasant sight.

Using my magic, I blocked the flow of Erebus fragments leaving the mana stone and filtered them back into the stone from the returning blood.

After some time, the man’s blood gradually returned to its original red hue.

“Blood…”

“It’s turning red again.”

However, the mutated body didn’t revert.

Even if the Erebus fragments were removed from the blood, once the body had transformed, it couldn’t return to its original state. Slightly disappointing.

“Ksssh.”

I detached the mana stone from the heart and handed it over to the hero.

“Absorb it into your gem.”

“Yes, sir.”

The hero placed the demon’s mana stone against his sword, allowing the darkness within to slowly seep into the blade.

Hmm. Even a fragment of this size is absorbed without issue. Not bad.

Putting aside such thoughts momentarily, I looked down at the man whose mana stone had been removed.

The demon-transformed body, perhaps deprived of the Erebus fragments provided by the mana stone, began crumbling into ash starting from the extremities of the limbs.

Does this corrupted flesh continuously crave Erebus fragments? Without further supply, it turns to ash like this?

Pitiful existence indeed.

“Gaaaah! No! I don’t want to die!!! I don’t want to die!!!”

With the Erebus fragments fully extracted and the mana stone removed, it seemed the man’s reason was gradually returning.

From behaving like a beast, he’s now recovered enough to speak. Though, alas, it’s too late.

“No! I refuse!!! I don’t want to die!!! I want to live!!! It’s me!!!”

Hmm? Magic is gathering in his mouth. Is this… breath attack?

No, calling it a breath attack might be generous. This is just a desperate last-ditch effort. He’s merely emitting a shockwave of magic from his mouth.

While technically a form of breath attack where magic is expelled through the mouth, compared to that, this is closer to mere breath, incredibly weak.

“Tch.”

I casually deflected the magical shockwave with the back of my hand.

“Guh…”

“Your final struggle is rather pathetic. Compared to a dragon’s breath, this is laughably weak.”

Wait, dragon?

Breath attack. Membrane-like wings. Tail… even the horns on the head. Hmm…

Could he have been trying to transform into a dragon? Without scales?

Hmm… perhaps. Maybe the memories within the Erebus fragment led him to desire such a transformation. Despite causing ruin through mistakes, he yearns for those days, does he?

What a foolish one.

“I don’t want to die….”

The man, losing his arms and legs, lay there as I addressed the hero.

“Finish him off.”

“Yes, sir.”

Though no longer human, he was once human. For the hero, this would be his first kill.

Closing his eyes tightly, the hero swung his sword at the man’s neck.

And the corpse of the demonized individual turned to ash and vanished.

Alright, having examined the body, it’s time to examine the soul.

I observed the soul emerging from the pile of ashes, retaining its pre-corruption form.

But most of the soul was stained black by darkness.

So the Erebus fragments… taint even the soul?

Erebus, just how far will you fall?

What do you seek, and why do you commit such acts?

Something I cannot comprehend.

– – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – – –

Demon.

An intelligent being corrupted by darkness.

Those who sought forbidden power and lost everything, leaving not even a corpse behind.

The first appearance of these cursed beings dates back to the story of the unnamed hero.

Long ago, Babel, founded by persecuted mages.

The ruler who dominated the city built a massive tower, seeking divine power, but his true identity was revealed by the hero’s party.

Yet the demon’s strength far surpassed that of humans, and just as its evil hand was about to reach the hero’s companion, the Dragon Priestess.

The gods intervened, unwilling to tolerate such wickedness any longer.

A colossal pillar of light crushed the demon, and the tower built in pursuit of godhood crumbled.

Thus, the first demon fell under the mighty power of the gods.

………

Afterward, the mages of Babel faced various choices.

Some chose to repent for their sins, constructing a square over the fallen tower to ensure such mistakes wouldn’t be repeated, staying in Babel.

Others, though not guilty themselves, chose to leave Babel, repenting for the folly of choosing an unwise leader.

Still others denied all guilt, betrayed Babel, and sought refuge in the human lands, claiming no responsibility for their actions.

………

Demons continued to appear frequently thereafter.

Many originated from mages, especially among those researching mana stones. Strangely, cases were frequent among the descendants of those who betrayed Babel.

Among the mage community, theories suggested this was either the price paid for ignoring Babel’s sins or using mana stones not consecrated by the Church of Life, though recent studies suggest the root cause lies elsewhere.

The claim is that certain components within mana stones corrupt mages.

Of course, this theory is highly speculative and requires extensive proof, but if true, it could uncover the origins of demons that have plagued humanity throughout history.

It might absolve humanity of one of its imposed sins.

– What Are Demons?

– Subsequently, the research lab studying the composition of mana stones was destroyed due to a sudden demon outbreak and rampage, leaving the claim unresolved.