‘Catastrophe Affinity’ was a trait that allowed Kranol to copy the powers of calamities.
However, he first needed to form a close bond with any calamity he encountered.
‘Of course, once I reach a higher stage, the number of skills I can copy will increase, and Exclusive Skill Synthesis will also be unlocked.’
For now, he needed to lay the groundwork by deepening his bond with the calamity.
Fortunately, working alongside the girl had naturally brought them closer.
Kranol examined the Status Window that appeared before him.
[Name: None]
[Species: Celestial-Demonic Hybrid]
[Potential: SSS]
[Exclusive Skills: Starlight Healing (Lv. 2), Black Lightning (Lv. 2), Subspace Shelter (Lv. 1)]
[Traits: Snack Lover (Common), Demonic Bloodline (Legendary), Angelic Bloodline (Legendary)]
[Stats: Strength (Lv. 1), Agility (Lv. 3), Magic Power (Lv. 4), Luck (Lv. 3)]
[Feelings toward you: The mister who grills meat really well!]
‘...This one is every bit as monstrous as the hatchling.’
Kranol could not help but marvel inwardly.
Once again, the potential rating was an astounding SSS.
‘I privately assumed she would be around A+ or S-rank. I never imagined she would be equal to the hatchling.’
The hatchling was the one and only offspring of a final boss.
However, the girl was also a hybrid born from the pure bloodlines of a demon and an angel from the Celestial Realm.
Their potential was completely equal.
Kranol felt as secure as though he had the Azure Dragon on his left and the White Tiger on his right.
It was no exaggeration to say that he had acquired the seeds of the most powerful calamities.
‘But possessing extraordinary potential does not make them invincible right now.’
Both the hatchling and the girl had inherited absurdly powerful bloodlines, but they were currently still children.
Any powerful figure or colossal creature in this world could kill them.
Kranol resolved to raise the two properly and ensure that they did not die.
‘I finally drew two winning lottery tickets. I cannot allow them to become worthless scraps of paper.’
In any case, that was not the most important matter at present.
He needed to decide which of the girl’s skills he would copy.
[You can copy the calamity’s Exclusive Skills.]
[The original skill level will not be retained.]
[The target’s current stage and bond with you are low.]
[You can currently copy ‘1’ skill.]
Previously, Kranol had copied the hatchling’s ‘Invisibility.’
It was advanced magic well suited for confusing enemies, launching surprise attacks, and committing crimes.
This time, however, he intended to copy a different kind of skill.
[You have copied ‘Black Lightning (Lv. 1)’!]
Black Lightning.
As the name suggested, it was black lightning.
It was an unusual advanced skill that could ordinarily be learned only by forming a contract with a demon.
It was also the power that the Rot Dragon had wanted so desperately that it had attempted to curry favor with a demon.
‘Black Lightning is a powerful offensive skill. Depending on how it is developed, it can become a wide-ranging disaster, a buff that strengthens slashing attacks through sacrifices, or a sniping spell that induces cardiac arrest from a distance.’
As certain skills increased in level, they could be developed along several distinct paths.
Depending on the route selected, a skill could either become highly versatile or practically useless.
Kranol intended to develop Black Lightning along a different path from the girl.
Doing so would be more efficient for both of them.
‘The most powerful method of developing a skill is to find the path best suited to its user.’
Once again, Kranol had no regrets about his choice.
He had selected the combat style that would allow him to grow stronger as quickly as possible.
‘Shall I test it?’
Kranol imagined pitch-black lightning and extended his hand.
CRACKLE! BZZZT!
Strange sparks flashed around his palm.
Eerie black lightning, like a bolt about to descend from a darkened sky, erupted from his hand with explosive force.
The lightning crawled along his arm as though it were alive, distorting even the surrounding air.
Kranol thrust his lightning-shrouded hand toward a nearby tree.
CRRRAACK!
A thick tree was gouged through its trunk and toppled over.
The area struck by the Black Lightning had been burned pitch-black and reduced to ash.
Kranol looked at the smoke rising from his hand and nodded.
‘I acquired that far too easily.’
Was it truly acceptable for him to learn such a powerful offensive skill with so little effort?
Unlike ordinary magic, black magic was exceedingly difficult to learn.
Even magic on the level of ‘Invisibility’ would require at least four years to learn from the ground up.
However, time was not the only obstacle involved in acquiring advanced black magic.
‘The more powerful the black magic, the more likely it is that you must offer a body part or something precious to a demon before you can learn it.’
That was not all.
Countless people had bargained with demons for power, only to be deceived, killed, or enslaved.
Acquiring black magic of this caliber in an instant was an absurdly valuable gain.
Kranol was devising a strategy for developing Black Lightning when—
“Huh? Mister.”
The girl suddenly tugged at his collar.
She pointed into the distance with one tiny finger.
“Look over there. Someone is coming.”
Kranol moved the moment he heard her.
He quickly pulled the girl into his arms.
“Mmph!”
The startled child tried to say something, but Kranol covered her mouth.
He hid behind a tree and held his breath.
When he listened closely, he could hear several voices.
“What happened to this tree?”
“Could there be someone else here besides us?”
Kranol cautiously leaned out and looked into the distance.
Several people wearing bright-red robes were speaking beside the tree he had charred with Black Lightning.
“That’s impossible. This forest is saturated with demonic energy. Many mercenaries died here during the Rot Dragon incident. What lunatic would come here recklessly?”
“But the demonic energy is thinner than it was last time. I also noticed several areas that had been purified. This is ominous. Something we don’t know about is happening in this forest.”
“Damn it. We should carry out the plan as quickly as possible. Everyone, move.”
Kranol raised one eyebrow.
The people in red robes were gathering and heading toward the depths of the corrupted region.
***
Kranol contemplated the situation.
A group of people wearing identical clothing was traveling somewhere together.
Moreover, they were doing so in land saturated with demonic energy.
‘Why are those people completely unharmed?’
Demonic energy was harmful to humans.
Prolonged exposure caused horrific infectious diseases and curses.
Without a blessed substance such as holy water or some form of specialized equipment, most people would eventually die.
‘They must be taking precautions similar to mine.’
Kranol was preventing the demonic energy from draining his vitality by absorbing it with the Gloves of Demonic Energy.
Those people undoubtedly possessed equipment or skills capable of blocking or neutralizing it.
In other words, they had known the land was filled with demonic energy and had deliberately prepared for it.
That was not the only thing troubling him.
They had mentioned that they needed to carry out some great undertaking within the corrupted region.
‘They are plotting something in a place devoid of people.’
However, Kranol could not remember reading about any related incident in the original story.
That meant it was either an insignificant event with no narrative importance or a variable that had never existed in the original story.
The matter bothered him.
‘If it is the latter, leaving it alone may lead to bloodshed.’
Kranol decided to follow them.
He only needed to investigate. If it proved unimportant, he could simply turn back.
“Mister, what exactly is happening?”
“Return to the Subspace Shelter for now. I will call you if I need you.”
Kranol sent the girl back and remained alone.
“Phew.”
He steadied his breathing and focused his strength throughout his body.
His form began disappearing from the tips of his feet upward.
It was Invisibility, the Exclusive Skill he had copied from the hatchling.
[You have cast ‘Invisibility (Lv. 1).’]
[It will be dispelled if you make a loud noise or attack another being.]
While invisible, Kranol began following the group.
He took care not to step on rustling leaves or exposed tree roots.
Before long, they reached a space that appeared completely alien to the corrupted forest.
Numerous black candles surrounded an altar.
People in red robes had gathered around it.
A magic circle had been drawn in blood at the altar’s center, with various eyeballs, organs, and bone fragments arranged evenly around it.
The scene was exceedingly gruesome, but Kranol merely nodded.
The answer was immediately obvious.
‘Those bastards belong to the Black Serpent Cult.’
It was a heretical organization that committed all manner of illegal crimes.
Many criminals and Black Mages belonged to the cult.
Sinister summoning rituals could practically be called their specialty.
‘An unjust law is no law and must be broken; morality is but a hypocritical shell.’
That was the first doctrine of the Black Serpent Cult.
A single sentence that perfectly revealed what kind of organization it was.
But why had they chosen a region seething with demonic energy?
“It appears we must move the plan forward. The atmosphere has been unsettling lately. The longer we continue working here, the greater the chance that someone will discover us.”
“But what happens if we rush the summoning ritual and call forth another failure like last time?”
“You mean that corpse-like dragon that fled the moment we tried to capture it? Do not worry. We brought a far greater offering this time.”
The members of the Black Serpent Cult gathered around the altar began murmuring among themselves.
Apparently, they had attempted to summon something before and failed.
However, the phrase ‘corpse-like dragon’ caught Kranol’s attention.
‘Could they be talking about the hatchling that was dying from Corpse Disease?’
Only then did the situation begin to make sense.
Why had a creature that should have been living in the final boss’s nest been discovered in a place like this?
The hatchling had been forcibly summoned here by the Black Serpent Cult.
‘What were they trying to summon that caused a demonic beast with the hatchling’s extraordinary potential to be called here by mistake?’
Mistaking the summoning target meant that they had attempted to summon an entity of similarly high rank.
Kranol carefully observed the situation.
When he saw the offering the cultists had prepared, he frowned.
They removed the heads of young men from a large cloth sack.
There were four heads in total, each belonging to someone of a different race and age.
All of their eyes had been gouged out.
One could identify the intended summoning target by examining the offering.
This was a ritual to summon a ‘Lowest-Rank Demon.’
‘They have lost their minds. They intend to summon a demon’s true body into the Mortal Realm.’
Demons and angels did not begin displaying their full might until Act Three.
Yet these cultists were attempting to make such a superior being descend into the Mortal Realm during Act One.
A catastrophe was inevitable.
Demon summoning was one of the most strictly forbidden rituals on the present-day continent.
‘So they were responsible. This is why the demonic energy in the region became so intense.’
Kranol had wondered why the demonic energy saturating the land was so severe.
Merely attempting the summoning had transformed an entire region into a land of death.
It demonstrated how terrifying even the lowest-ranking demon could be.
‘I should leave quietly. Nothing good will come from becoming involved with a demon during Act One.’
Kranol immediately turned around.
A demon was currently far too powerful for him to hunt or oppose recklessly.
The incident had probably gone unmentioned in detail in the original story because the ritual ultimately ended in catastrophic failure.
Incidents in which people attempted to summon demons to satisfy their own desires occurred occasionally, but they rarely ended well.
This would undoubtedly become one of the countless demonic tragedies mentioned only briefly in the story.
‘...Wait.’
Kranol suddenly stopped walking.
His thoughts abruptly changed.
If handled properly, he might be able to exploit the impending tragedy instead.
‘Perhaps I should watch the summoning.’
Recently, Kranol had become thoroughly enamored with effortless gains.
If there was a way to reap substantial benefits at minimal cost, he intended to exploit it.
Even if the opportunity before him was a grand demon-summoning ritual.