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[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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Chapter 10: Low-Rank Administrator 'Priscilla'
About five minutes passed before Park Yeri's consciousness faded completely.
For a brief moment, silence fell upon the noisy battlefield.
"Stop watching and come out."
A single phrase, tossed casually into the empty air.
Naturally, there was no reaction.
'So even this isn't good enough for you?'
'Honestly, having such unnecessarily high standards.'
He thought he had created a more than sufficient stage, but it seemed they wanted to judge the situation a bit more carefully.
That wasn't going to happen.
He had spent all this time with these people for a reason...
He couldn't tolerate the most important one just testing the waters.
In that case...
Yohan scraped together the byproducts from the undead monsters.
Scrape.
Next, using the blood, he drew a large picture on the ground.
'It's a bit confusing since it's been a while. Was it better to use [Binding] here instead of [Suppression]?'
It was a fairly high-level ritual, so it wasn't easy to perform without the aid of mana and skills.
There were a few trials and errors, but it didn't take very long.
Before long, a faint blue light began to rise from the completed, ornate pentagram-patterned ritual.
Drip.
A droplet of blood fell onto the pentagram.
[Blood Art 'Crimson Boundary' is activated!]
And then.
An anomaly occurred.
CRACK!
A fissure began to form in the empty air.
...A success.
Yohan savored the thrilling pleasure and waited for the scene that would follow.
['Concealment' has been seen through.]
['Low-Rank Administrator' is forcibly manifested by the summoning ritual!]
Poof!
Something appeared in the empty air.
A petite figure, about 30cm tall.
With wings on its back and even a small magic wand.
A cute fairy, looking like it had popped out of a fairy tale, appeared.
"Huh? Why is this happening? This isn't supposed to happen."
The inhuman being tilted its head again and again.
As if it couldn't possibly accept the current situation, it kept muttering to itself and looking around.
Then, it suddenly looked at Yohan, who was standing in front of it.
"Don't tell me... you're the one who broke my concealment?"
"Well, something like that."
"Haha. This is just absurd. To think, in all my life, I'd be discovered by a mere human. Then again. You probably don't know who I am, so you were able to do something this stupid."
The cute and adorable fairy brushed back its hair.
It seemed to want to set a certain mood, in its own way, but it was just too dainty-looking for that.
Of course.
To judge this being by its appearance alone would be insane.
A Low-Rank Administrator.
One of the minions who managed the upcoming episodes, a monster that held absolute authority within the world of the forbidden book.
It surely possessed the power to instantly kill an ordinary Hunter with just a light word of command.
But.
Unfortunately for it, the human it was facing was no ordinary human.
['Prophet's Eye' is activated!]
Yohan used his eye.
One of his eyes was dyed red, and a status window flashed before him.
[Priscilla]
Class: Low-Rank Administrator
Rank: 3rd Month, 10th Star
Unique Ability: Golden Skein
Description: Belongs under the command of the 'White Leader'. Has a prideful but clumsy personality and is weak to praise. A classic case of being strong against the weak and weak against the strong.
A rank system composed of 12 Months and 12 Stars.
Ordinary Low-Rank Administrators usually had a rank of 4th Month or higher.
Throb!
The backlash from peeking at a higher being was considerable.
Still, it was at a tolerable level.
Suppressing the pain, Yohan chewed over the information he had just seen.
'Priscilla...'
'Late 3rd Month means she's on the considerably weaker side for a Low-Rank Administrator.'
'Then again, if she could be seen through by a hastily made trap, she must be far from experienced.'
The most helpful pieces of information were regarding Priscilla's personality and the first mention of the 'White Leader', who had been a hot topic in the early episodes.
'Interesting. That I get to experience this part.'
Seeing Priscilla made him truly feel the reality of the extra week he'd been given.
"Hah? I am speaking, where do you think you're looking? Do you actually want to die?"
Priscilla slowly raised her magic wand.
Pzzzt!
A spark flew.
Getting hit by that in his current state would be quite dangerous.
With a Progenitor's body he wouldn't die, but there was no need to let this being know that fact.
Yohan moved half a beat faster.
The time to finally use this had come.
['Crimson Lotus Ring' is unsealed!]
A fierce flame shot up from the ring on Yohan's finger.
Its effect was...
[Description: A ring imbued with the 'Blessing of an Ancient Dragon' that creates all kinds of flames. However, a price beyond one's means brings forth disaster. The pure, uncontrolled hellfire can eventually incinerate even its owner. (Can be recharged by injecting the flame attribute.)]
The perk that allowed him to bring just one item from the Blood Prison.
Originally, he had planned to use this ring during the first episode, but a chance that was incomparably better had just appeared.
'I have to be careful.'
It was an item dangerous enough to be stored in the Blood Prison.
Especially since it summoned the flames of an ancient dragon; there was no way the risk would be mediocre.
If he slipped up even a little bit, the hellfire would swallow his entire body.
It was a task that required incredibly delicate and precise control, as well as extreme mental fortitude.
But.
'I can do it.'
He was confident.
He was used to walking a thrilling tightrope.
After his time with the Red Dragon, he prided himself on knowing more about fire than anyone else.
Fwoosh!
A flame capable of creating a domain of fire erupted.
A terrifying heat engulfed the space.
"Huh?"
The playful look on Priscilla's face hardened in an instant.
She must have instinctively sensed that this was no ordinary flame.
Making a swift judgment, Priscilla turned tail and tried to escape.
"Where do you think you're going?"
Yohan gathered the flames into one spot.
From above...
...to below.
TUKWAAAANG!
"Kyaaaak!"
Priscilla's body was slammed directly into a pile of sand.
The rampaging flames danced wildly.
Yohan used all his strength to distort their flow. He synchronized his will with every little fragment, pushing and pulling them to create another domain within the domain.
He had succeeded in manifesting a perfect prison of fire.
On top of that,
[Bloodline Ability 'Blood Rain' is activated!]
Drip. Drip. Drip...
Thin streams of blood, changed into the form of a drizzle, began to fall.
They soon seeped into the sand.
Slowly, the faint, fishy smell of blood began to waft through the air.
By paralyzing the sense of smell that Low-Rank Administrators were particularly sensitive to, he had placed an additional small shackle on her ability to activate her powers.
＊＊＊
A few seconds later.
"Puaaah!"
Priscilla pushed her head out from the sand.
"Now then. It would be wise for you to obediently follow my orders from now on. It's been a while since I've been outside, so I don't think I can control my strength very well."
'Please don't try to resist pointlessly.'
'For your sake, and for mine.'
'No, I'm not just saying that. If I mess up, we could both end up as whole-roasted barbecue.'
It went without saying, but his words fell on deaf ears.
"I don't need to wait for the episode to start! I'll tear your limbs off right now!"
Priscilla shrieked.
'Hmm.'
'As expected of a Low-Rank Administrator, her pride is quite strong.'
Yohan pushed Priscilla, who was barely peeking her head out, right back into the sand.
'It's okay. It's fine.'
'The sand knows the answer.'
'Once she's had her fill of eating and drinking it, she'll give me the answer I want.'
"Mmmph! Mmph!"
The sand shook violently.
How many seconds passed like that?
"Puha! Ack! Uweegh! Cough. Haa..."
Only when she was on the verge of passing out did Yohan release his power.
"Now then, have you had a change of heart?"
"...Don't. You. Dare. Laugh!"
Priscilla tried to escape through the gap that had barely formed.
However, the sand, now hardened like steel, didn't even budge.
It was useless no matter how much mana she gathered.
'A curse? Magic? Or a barrier?'
She didn't know what it was, but the flames were binding everything.
"How dare... a human inflict such a humiliation upon me. If you don't release this unknown thing at once, you will regret it. Do you even know what the Enforcement Department or the Inspection Department is? Do you know who I am!"
'Geez, my eardrums are going to burst.'
'For a little pipsqueak, how does she have a voice loud enough to have boiled and eaten a train's steam whistle?'
Besides.
He was starting to feel a little hurt.
'In your eyes, even now...'
"Do I look like a mere human to you?"
[Recreating the 'Dignity of an Ancient Dragon' sealed in the 'Crimson Lotus Ring'!]
[The 'Uncontrolled Flames' will now overflow!]
This was a gamble, a decisive move.
Because he had just unleashed something that was utterly uncontrollable at his current level.
It would probably be a long time before he could fully recharge the dignity contained in this ring.
Simply gathering a little bit of mana or flame wouldn't even come close.
Thus, the given time limit was one minute.
He had to deceive his opponent within that time.
Kukukukuku!
The air shifted rapidly.
It felt as if every last particle of mana was being replaced by the element of fire.
"N-No way."
Priscilla began to tremble like an aspen tree.
She couldn't help it.
Because the dignity now emanating from that human's body was in no way inferior to those she served.
'His rank could be... the 7th Month... no, it could be nearing the 8th Month.'
The 7th and 8th Month.
At a bare minimum, that was the level of a Mid-Rank Administrator, no...
It was the level of a Director, the highest position among the Mid-Ranks.
'If I defy him...'
'...I'll die.'
Priscilla's mind went white as a sheet of paper.
Was there some kind of mistake?
Or had one of the great beings manifested in human form to spectate before the episode began?
'That can't be.'
That was impossible.
All divine beings were currently in strict isolation by the system. Therefore, the very premise of a divine being existing in the modern era was flawed from the start.
In other words, her opponent was human.
He possessed unbelievable power, but it meant he was by no means a being who had built up great deeds and reached the level of myth.
Having reached a logical conclusion, Priscilla barely managed to cling to the fraying thread of her reason.
However, at Yohan's next words.
"The 'Knight's Token' that a Low-Rank Administrator can give. If you hand that over, I will make you a proposal as well."
"What...?"
Priscilla completely failed to manage her expression.
＊＊＊
The 'Knight's Token' was a top secret among top secrets, known exclusively to the administrators.
It was a kind of carrot used to find and win over promising Hunters during the one-week period before the apocalypse began.
But.
It wasn't enough that he had summoned her; now he was bringing up the Knight's Token first.
At this point, it had gone beyond confusion and was bordering on fear.
Therefore.
Priscilla had no choice but to ask.
"You... what the hell are you? What is your identity that you know all of this?"
Clack-clack-clack!
Priscilla's jaw chattered up and down.
The emotions she felt were the thrill and fear of the unknown.
This was the first time she couldn't see into the inner thoughts of a mere mortal, which should always be plain to see.
The hellfire that had erupted from the 'Crimson Lotus Ring' had been retrieved.
She had long been freed from her bonds, but she couldn't even think of escaping.
Toward such a Priscilla, Yohan smiled sweetly.
"Well now. Whatever answer I give..."
Whether he told the truth.
Or told a lie.
Or said something else entirely.
"Would you even be able to understand it? No, more importantly, if I told you, are you confident you could handle it?"
The reason why a powerful person's philosophical question is so potent and alluring?
It's simple.
Information asymmetry.
Even if you just toss it out vaguely, the other party will over-exaggerate and over-interpret it as they please.
And they will do so in the worst possible way they can imagine.
In other words.
To Priscilla, the being known as Yohan was the very embodiment of unknown terror.
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[Translator - Prøks]
[Proofreader - Prøks]
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