◈ Chapter 56. Aesthetics (2)

[Aesthetic: low]

The effect was quite varied.

To summarize it in one line, the effect was something like this.

[Adds aesthetics to everything].

Opening up stats.

When the information about it got into my head.

…… I was like, “What the hell is this?

But I was wrong.

It wasn’t until I saw the effect of [Aesthetics] that I was able to correct that impure thought.

Adding aesthetics to ‘everything’.

I couldn’t think of a better effect for it.

“It’s definitely different from the other stats.

Strength, agility, magic, and so on.

Each stat had its limits.

For example.

Like your strength stat can’t directly affect the power of your magic.

That’s why I rated the aesthetic as disparate.

‘Magic, swordsmanship, and even black magic…….’

Aesthetics really did affect ‘everything’.

What does that mean?

What is, what is not.

I can’t help but use it all.

I can’t think of a more suitable effect……!

Goooooo-!

I raised my magic power.

Aesthetically enhanced 『Magic』.

The target was the approaching demon army.

“Let’s check them one by one.

It started with a familiar sound.

Quadruple quadruple!

Another stone pillar.

However, the aesthetically pleasing stone pillars were different from before.

It looks like a stone pillar rising from the ground.

” ……, what is that?”

Harkon was surprised.

I could understand his reaction.

I’d been a little surprised myself.

“……Halt!!!”

The demon army was blocked in front of us.

Soldiers.

Yes, the same soldiers we had just saved.

Frost’s soldiers.

I had manifested them as sculptures.

……was. Wait a minute.

How complicated was that interference?

I knew from experience.

Why, when I was reshaping the silver dagger.

I simply twisted its shape to increase its lethality.

The magic power consumed was not negligible.

But.

‘…… This isn’t just a tweak.’

A statue from ordinary stone.

That’s the level of form creation.

Moreover, there were over a hundred statues that manifested like that.

Even if you say that my magic power has grown and the [Natural Enemy Relations] is activated.

I wouldn’t have been able to avoid depletion.

In the past, of course.

I checked my drained magic.

“Not bad.”

It was more draining than just manifesting the stone pillar.

compared to the level of magic manifested.

It was almost like a free lunch.

It was all thanks to aesthetics.

Aesthetics.

It was a simplification of an already complex interference process.

“Simplified.”

Shortcuts, macros, gimmicks.

Sure, they’re more cumbersome than not.

But it’s all done with the push of a button.

The power is multiplied by many, many times over.

But the truth was something only I could know.

No wonder the demon army stopped.

“Surely that’s the one we killed……?”

“No way, did you bring him back to life?”

“No, that’s not possible for a human being!”

Even the shadowy mercenaries who were watching.

“Yeong-gam, breathe, at least. What’s the big deal? It’s just a few rocks sticking out.”

“…… Rockkid. I envy you for your ignorance.”

“What, as*hole?! I’m not ignorant, you bastard!”

I pick up the body.

He looked at me like I was crazy for declaring it.

Somehow, even that stare feels strangely different now.

Especially the Kichi one, which totally makes me look like a freak.

But.

“Look at me. Look at me, you little demon.”

I don’t bother to explain myself.

I couldn’t afford to.

I continued in a cold voice.

“Not even death can break a man’s pride.”

As I picked up the body, I made sure to say.

-Your pride is mine to carry on.

Yes, I can’t even keep my word……!

The demon army was agitated.

I did not hesitate.

Sae-ae-ak─!

Soldier statues.

The weapons they were holding flew towards the demon army.

The weapons were also part of the statues.

It was no wonder their forms were so elaborate.

Add to that my magic power.

Its destructive power was beyond compare.

Quack, quack, quack!

Exactly.

A throw that only attacked the demon army.

“Aaaahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!!!”

“How can the dead bastards……!”

” How the hell do they stay on human terms!”

Indeed, leveling up.

[Demon Army White Captain: Lv.420]

The one who had regained his senses shouted to his allies.

“Don’t be fooled. It’s just a trick!”

A simple trick.

I added a word.

“Indeed, my expectations were too high.”

“……what?”

“There is no way a dumb demon can understand pride.”

The real work was just beginning.

I turned up the heat in earnest.

As I said, aesthetics affected everything.

“I’ll have to figure out how it synergizes with each attribute spell. I’ll need to know.”

What I needed then was a light, a sphere of energy.

I manifested light.

It didn’t need to be large.

“Subtlety is more important than great power.”

The battlefield is a complicated place.

I needed to differentiate between enemies and allies.

“It is better to increase their number than to decrease their size.”

The concept of aesthetics.

The interference didn’t cost a ton of magic either.

And not that it matters, but…….

Round.

“……Beautiful.”

“Brilliant!”

“Yeong-gam. What’s the magic that makes me tickle just looking at it?”

Like a snowflake sparkling in the sunlight.

The aesthetics of the magic sphere were quite beautiful.

Of course, beauty wasn’t everything.

Manifestation.

Like snowflakes.

The magic spheres that flew towards the demon army began to manifest as elemental magic.

Each elemental magic was also given an aesthetic touch.

Flames roared and crackled.

The water flowed serenely.

Even the thunderbolts were sublime, like heavenly judgment.

It was sublime.

The sight was sublime.

It was hard for me to describe.

It was inevitable.

No matter how it looked.

The process of hunting demons, after all.

No matter how it was done, it was only natural.

I spoke softly.

“Get out of the way.”

Of course, I couldn’t be so blasé.

It all came back to the message from earlier.

[You’ve leveled up].

[Leveled up] [Leveled up] [Leveled up] [Leveled up] [Leveled up] [Leveled up]

[You’ve leveled up.]…….

And then there was the flashing quest window.

──────

─Current contribution: 23,100p

──────

Experience and contributions pouring in.

I thought shamelessly.

…… This one’s got a shot at #1 in contributions.

*

Frost.

There was no more sunlight in Miya’s house.

Miya stared at the curtained windows.

How many days had it been?

It had been days since her father had stepped out the door.

-Miya, you must never open the door.

She wasn’t as young as her brother, Mark.

So she knew.

There was a demon in Frost, and her father had left the house to fight it.

And.

-Mark. Listen to your sister until I get back.

And that he’ll never come back.

Miya didn’t feel sorry for herself.

She knew she wasn’t alone in this ordeal.

But it was strange.

Ever since she’d heard that another village had fallen to the demons.

It was definitely on my mind.

For some reason, the tears kept coming.

“……sobs.”

But Miya didn’t cry.

No, even if she did, she couldn’t cry in front of Mark.

……Mark?

Miya stretched out her arms as hard as she could and searched around.

But no matter how far she reached, she couldn’t touch the rounded back of his head.

Where did he go, sweetheart?

Did he go upstairs?

I was thinking.

A beam of light pierced the darkness.

“!”

Mark had pulled back the curtain.

Miya gasped in horror.

The devil might see us!

She shouted at Mark in a whisper.

“Mark……, close the curtains!”

Mark’s face bathed in sunlight.

For some reason, the corners of his mouth turned up.

Mark said cheerfully.

“Sis, it’s snowing!”

……Snow?

It hadn’t snowed in Frost for a while.

Father had said so.

The gates of hell had opened in the Frost Forest.

The ground would heat up and there would be no more snow.

Surely, that’s what he said…….

Doridori─

‘He’s been seeing things.’

That idiot!

Miya hurried over to Mark.

The house was dark.

It hurt to be seen, but she held back her tears.

She quickly pulled the curtains…….

“……?”

I tried to close them.

Mark was right, it was indeed snowing.

Fluffy.

Miya stared out the window, dumbfounded.

……No, that wasn’t snow.

Even if it was fluffy snow, those snowflakes were too big.

Even when the snow piled up to the roof, she hadn’t seen anything like it.

And it was too shiny.

“…… It’s pretty.”

For the first time in her life, she felt that way about snow.

A mesmerized Miya snapped out of her daze at Mark’s words.

“Sis, let’s go outside and have a snowball fight!”

Dad said that Mark was just a kid.

“…… you idiot!”

Miya was sure of it.

Mark was definitely an idiot.

Miya came to her senses.

It didn’t matter if it was snow or not.

“Quick!

He had to get the curtains…… before the demon saw him!

As she did, she caught sight of the street.

“……Sister, you’re so cheesy and selfish!”

I couldn’t see the little Mark.

Miya could see it.

” ……You’re here to save me?”

The figure of a knight fighting a demon.

Miya felt like she was going to burst into tears.

But there was a man in a strange outfit next to the knights.

“……?”

The outfit was definitely something she hadn’t seen before.

But the words stuck in her memory.

-When my dad was about my age, there were people called adventurers from another world…….. They helped Dad, and everyone else, a lot.

Miya could feel it in her gut.

“An adventurer.

This man was the adventurer his father had been talking about.

But at the same time, he remembered his father’s words.

-“Miya, you should never trust anyone, no matter who they are.

……Yes, Dad said demons are good at deceiving people.

Miya bit her lower lip.

Yeah, maybe that was a trick, too.

But it was weird.

“……No.”

No matter how she thought about it, that was not something a demon would do.

Men and knights were collecting bodies.

Among them was a face Miya recognized.

“Mr. Hanson…….”

It was the guard who had greeted her a few days ago.

The adventurer who closed his eyes.

The sight of him touched Miya’s heart.

“Me too……. I want to see it too. Sis!”

Miya said to the whimpering Mark.

“……Mark. Let’s have a snowball fight.”

“……really?!”

“Really, I promise.”

Miya tightened her grip on Mark’s hand.

* https://pindangscans.com

I realized again.

“The Shadow Mercenaries.”

Their skill.

There was a hierarchy among them, with Kichi leading the way.

But it was a false sense of order.

Even Malseok and Rockkid were formidable in combat.

I see it now.

“Swarm them. Bastards.”

With each swing of his mace, the demon army was swept away like leaves in the wind.

Slaughtering over 400 level monsters like that.

“I’m even more surprised that’s not a Sword Energy.

Rockid didn’t seem to have any sword energy, any unique light.

He was overpowering the demons with pure strength alone.

I suddenly felt like my liver was sticking out of my stomach.

“……I’m a shadow mercenary like that.”

It had been dragged here, to Frost, by force.

The good news was that, aside from their strength, they were favorable to me.

“We’re pulling out all the stops. You see?”

“I’m watching. Looks like there’s still slack.”

“……, slack?! Ugh. We’ll try harder!”

“?”

It was just a compliment on my performance.

What was that reaction?

It was just a compliment on a performance.

Kichi gave it his best shot.

“If you don’t mind.”

Not only did Kichi speak to me politely, but so did an older man named Alkari.

He even offered me a potion.

“Drug making is my specialty.”

But this is the noble Mr. Grandfell.

What kind of great man would rely on a potion handed to him by someone else?

I naturally retorted.

“I appreciate the favor, but I’m fine.”

“Ohhh……! I’ve accidentally made you suspicious of my lord. Please forgive the senility of this lowly old man.”

“?”

Oh no, not this reaction again.

I thought there was a miscommunication.

Not the best time to correct it now.

My magic.

The Knights of the Lionheart and the Shadow Mercenaries joined forces.

The demon army retreated only after suffering heavy losses, near annihilation.

There was no need to pursue. We would meet again, as long as our goal was to destroy the demon.

And now we had a job to do.

Harkon shouted.

“Collect the bodies!”

There was no shortage of bodies along the way.

As the guard’s eyes closed, Harkon spoke.

“My lord. I firmly believed there would be survivors.”

He paused.

“But……!”

Harkon’s shoulders shook with anger.

If nothing else, he was sure of one thing.

This much resentment for the greatest Harkon in the world.

“Whoever you are, Demon King, you’re in real trouble.

It was then.

“……!”

The quest window flashed.

Thankfully, I had something to say to Harkon.

“Don’t blame yourself, Harkon.”

“……?”

[Class Quest: Defeat the Demon King]

The king of demons.

Their ranks are growing.

You are the last demon hunter.

Tear down the throne of evil.

─Train your weakened body. (Repeat)

Investigate the northern city of Frost. (Success)

Class Quests.

New objective added at the end.

Save the Survivors. (Ongoing)

I said nonchalantly.

“Perhaps your faith is not misplaced.”

At that moment.

With a bang!

The curtains opened.

“New, a survivor……!”

But it’s too soon to rejoice.

─Stop the demon summoning ritual. (Ongoing)

It seems that the slaughter of the demons has only just begun in earnest.