Davey searched the area where the black swamp was corrupting the dimension, but in the end, he couldn't find the beastfolk. It seemed Perserque’s worry was just a false alarm.
If she truly had seen something strange, there was a high possibility that it was a simple coincidence of timing.
Davey never considered the possibility of her lying. There was nothing for her to gain from it, after all. However, he also found the black swamp to be very mysterious. He had no clue how such a phenomenon could have occurred.
He tried to poke at it a bit using the power of Predatory Assimilation, but the resistance only confirmed that it wasn't something he should mess with.
“What Kouna’s doing is incredible,” he marveled. “The range of her power increases every time she falls into a trance.”
For the first couple of times, Perserque didn’t think too much about it. However, every time Kouna restored the black swamp, she was instinctively learning how to handle the power little by little.
Seeing her gradually wield the power more powerfully, a power she hadn't even recognized at first, Davey wondered if it was truly okay to let her fully awaken the ability.
“Haah. Ugh.”
Kouna collapsed heavily right after she finished restoring the black swamp in its entirety. Davey caught her, and she avoided his gaze with a flushed face.
“Please carry me...”
“I know you can stand.”
“Please carry me...”
Facing her stubborn request, he sighed and tried to lift her onto his back. Yet, before he could, an invisible force lifted her into the air.
“Kyaa!”
“If you’re that exhausted, I’ll float you,” Perserque said while glaring at her.
Kouna frowned, her plan foiled. “Ugh.”
“You’re still immature, you naughty girl.” Perserque instantly saw through her intention and floated her up without caring whether she struggled or not.
Davey turned and asked the giant, “Are there any more swamps around here?”
“Hmm. No more here!”
“I hear no more sounds! But maybe one beyond mountain!”
The giant was surprisingly excellent at searching and reconnaissance.
Reptiles that looked like the Winged King's minions occasionally charged once they saw the giant, but Davey always crushed them before they could even come close.
Unlike some living beings that instinctively sensed the dimension's crisis, the Winged King and its minions seemed obsessed with killing the giant, no matter what was happening to the world around them.
“Scared of that fairy...”
“Me too...”
Unlike Perserque and Kouna, the giant was utterly terrified of Davey. It kept an eye on him at all times for several days as they purified the swamps.
After those few days, Kouna had grown to the point where she could roughly sense how many traces of the black swamp remained in the bubble world.
Her rates of growth and skill acquisition were clearly abnormal.
“It’s hard to get used to any power this quickly,” Davey remarked, surprised.
Perserque turned to him and asked, “Remember when Kouna fell into a trance?”
“Hmm?”
“After this continuous purification, I feel like the power she’s showing right now and when she was in a trance are getting closer in scale...”
“You’re not saying...”
In other words, as Kouna purified the swamp, she seemed to be gradually recovering the incredible power she had displayed while in that trance-like state.
It wasn't exactly growth, more like a regression... or a restoration.
“Is it affecting her growth rate too? Or...”
Whatever the case, if she continued to grow by purifying the swamps, her power could potentially reach the highest level, second only to Illyna and Davey. That was, if they only considered the power to restore targets without other conditions.
Other possibilities included Willow or even Evangeline, but the characteristic of Hercules she possessed and her attention-seeking nature caused her progression to be quite slow. Willow also had many restrictions.
Considering the circumstances, Kouna was bound to become overwhelmingly strong in just a short span of time.
“Don’t you feel like that’s a bit unfair? I’ve also worked hard to learn magic,” Perserque wryly said.
He knew how much she had been through. Her magical ability was among the very best, even when compared to the mages of Atrellia and Tionis. By any normal standard, she stood at an exceptional level.
The only problem was that the people she kept comparing herself to were completely abnormal. Given Illyna had mastered a sword strike that tore through dimensions, and even Kouna began to awaken such immense power, it was only natural for her to be frustrated.
“I feel the same way,” Davey admitted. “I wielded swords for hundreds of years, but Illyna wields the Continuum-Attacking Blade that not even I can fully control.”
Yet, feeling jealous wouldn't change anything. He continued, “Don’t worry. You’re strong too.”
Perserque turned her gaze to him. “Me?”
“Yeah. There’s a reason you're the only one in this world who holds my life wrapped around their finger,” Davey reminded her with a loving smile.
She looked at the ring on her finger.
It was the contract ring that shared her life with his. While it might seem like a penalty, her vitality was protected to the point where no one could easily kill her unless they'd reached a level that could kill Davey. Furthermore, her lifespan was forcefully matched to his, the longer one.
Her already minimal aging had been completely stopped by it, and her body would never weaken.
If she truly set her mind to it, she could even kill him with it.
“So, relax,” Davey comforted.
“How could I harm you? Even if you cheated and I filed for divorce, I wouldn’t dare touch this.”
“Don’t worry. Even if you ask for a divorce, I’ll never agree to it.”
She was a small frog caught in a venus flytrap. Entangled as she was, she couldn't escape him.
Her gaze narrowed, seeing his stare. “Your eyes are looking very suspicious.”
“Just saying. You can never run away from me,” he said with a laugh.
“Where would I run off to, leaving you behind?”
“Who knows. When time flows infinitely, nothing is as simple as it always seemed.”
As Davey and Perserque shared a strange moment, Kouna approached them.
“...What are you two doing?”
“Ahem.”
It seemed the giant left to search for another location. Kouna's eyes narrowed as she looked at Davey.
Curious, he asked her, “What’s wrong?”
“...Nothing. More importantly, how much longer are we going to have to stay here?”
“We’ll move on to the next world as soon as this one's sorted. There are no disruptors, and since you’re finding your power quickly, it’s become easier to find the necrotic swamps.”
Processing his explanation, her expression noticeably darkened.
“Maybe... I should’ve been slower,” she muttered to herself, showing disappointment.
“That seems to be the last necrotic area,” Davey said. He then added, “Well, probably.”
“Probably?”
“I can’t be absolutely sure.”
It was then.
Boom!!!
A pillar of black light, resembling a black flame, erupted in the distance. At the same time, they heard something scream, “Hot!! Hot!!”
“AHHH!! Fairy!! Me die!! Me die!!”
When the giant screamed, Davey immediately grabbed the exhausted Kouna. Perserque shrank her body and perched on his shoulder as he soared into the air.
“That’s...”
“The black swamp...”
A black swamp that hadn't been there moments before appeared once again. The giant rolled across the ground in agony, its entire body engulfed in black flames. It continued to scream, not knowing what to do about the flames.
Every time the flame on its body touched the forest, black swamps spread indiscriminately throughout the area.
“Oh my goodness...” Kouna was exhausted from the purification she had just performed. She wouldn't be able to use her power again for a while. So, there was no immediate way to deal with the rapidly spreading black swamp.
“KIAHHHH!!!”
Then, the massive dragon Winged King, which had been lying in wait, suddenly attacked the giant. The assault sent it tumbling across the ground, making the situation even worse as the flames spread further.
“That dirty lizard!” Perserque pulled out Transcendence’s Demise to cast a spell and called out, “Davey!”
But his gaze was fixed on something else. Not the Winged King, but rather the root cause of the necrotic state.
A pitch-black beastfolk stood in the center of the black swamp, surrounded by an aura of black, flame-like mist. Its red eyes flickered as it slowly turned its gaze toward Davey.
The red gaze was frighteningly desolate. Yet, it was also strangely familiar.
“Kouna, do you see that?” Davey solemnly asked.
“...No?” She didn't seem to see the being.
It was clearly the beastfolk Perserque had seen. The power he felt from them was strangely familiar, yet completely new.
“Kouna, stand back.”
He immediately tossed her into the air, and she screamed in terror, but an invisible force gently lowered her to the ground before she landed.
Fwoosh!!
As soon as Davey drew out Red Ribbon, the being also drew out a sword made of black flames. Davey scoffed internally.
‘Hah! You’re gonna challenge me?’
Clang!!
The two clashed in an instant.
Davey didn't know what to say.
‘Stronger than I thought.’
The being attacked with a surprisingly familiar power.
Clang! Clang!!
They apparently had no intention of listening to him, and continued unleashing their power. The black flames coiled around Davey as though trying to swallow him whole, before spreading outward and creating black swamps in every direction.
Perserque dealt with the rampaging reptiles, including the Winged King, while Davey clashed with the source of the trouble. Kouna, upon looking around for what she should do to help, quickly rushed toward the giant who was suffering and covered in flames.
It was thrashing, and a single mistake on her part could lead to her turning into a flat, dried jerky, yet she didn't stop.
Crunch!!
Of course, nobody else had the time to spare worrying about her.
“I’m pretty sure...” Davey muttered softly, eating the black flame attached to Red Ribbon with the power of Predatory Assimilation, then shaking it off.
It was a power he couldn't use. It was a dangerous flame that would’ve made Red Ribbon reel significantly if it hadn't been reinforced.
However, it had another quality.
“A bit clumsy, I’d say.”
Crunch!!
Feinting, he deflected the attack and then gnawed at the black flame with the power of Predatory Assimilation.
He could directly absorb non-matter energy, either assimilating it into himself or releasing it. No matter how formidable the black flames were, the power of Predatory Assimilation was even more sinister and profound.
Then, when the black flame covering the being’s face was swept away, he was able to see their face.
At the end of that momentary gap, Davey flinched instinctively.
Their appearance was similar to his. They weren’t an exact doppelganger, though. They were similar but different people.
Still, that wasn't the only thing that surprised Davey.
The ears he had seen were definitely desert fox ears, just like Aeria's. However, they were even shorter than Aeria's, despite her being only half beastfolk. It seemed the figure possessed even less beastfolk blood than she did.
“Darian... is that you?”
Facing that question, he kicked Davey, putting distance between them. He then gave a desolate smile, crossed his arms, and spread all his fingers.
Following that flourish, dozens of white talismans with geometric patterns appeared in his hands.
‘Sorcery!’
Davey instinctively mustered his strength to stop him.
The Darian he knew hadn’t grown so much. The man in front of him had a distinctly clear feeling, unlike someone from the future or a parallel world.
Suddenly, the talismans all glowed and began to fill the surroundings with power. It was a form of sorcery completely dissimilar to both Davey’s and Woochi’s styles.
As soon as the talismans were fully activated, the sky began to twist and blacken.
“Darian, stop!!”
Whatever was going on with him, one thing was certain. He wasn't a reluctant enemy due to some convoluted circumstances, like Willow or Abel.
He was committing a terribly twisted act of malice.
“Teehee... Teeheeheehee!!” He began to laugh strangely, and then said something shocking to Davey. “Teehee... You geezer!! Die!!”
He abruptly vanished with a swoosh. At the same time, the sorcery he had unleashed began to twist open the Gate of the End.
Davey ground his teeth, looking at the spot where he had vanished.
“That insolent brat. What did he just call his dad...”
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