I Was the Supporter of a Popular Dungeon Streamer, but the Power Harassment Was Too Much, so I Quit. I’m Useless Anyway, so It Shouldn’t Be a Problem, Right? Huh? The Views Are Dropping Like Crazy? - 55

Chapter 55: Stained in Ink

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My body felt light. I could feel an improvement far beyond what I had experienced with Origin.

A sense of omnipotence pierced through my brain. 

So this is what people mean when they say their brain juices are flowing…?

“A wooden katana? You think you can beat me with a wooden sword? With a damn stick like that!?”

Iizuka swung his axe. I caught it with Kurogane in my left hand.

“Ah!?”

“Is that all you’ve got?”

I drove Kurogane into Iizuka’s stomach. His stomach caved in, but it regenerated immediately.

“—Hah! I don’t really get what’s going on, but it looks like I got stronger! Pretty amazing, huh!? But no matter how many times you hit me, you can’t kill me!!”

“Then keep taking the hits and see for yourself.”

Iizuka and I clashed violently. Each time I swung Kurogane, it left slash marks on Iizuka’s skin, as if I was drawing with ink. Whenever Kurogane struck Iizuka or his OOPArt, the ink burst upon impact. Every time that happened, his axe, his own OOPArt, gradually turned black.

“Tch! This is annoying as hell!! Quit dodging and just take my hit already!!!”

Iizuka’s body and axe shifted form, attacking in unpredictable ways, but I evaded, deflected, and countered every single strike.

“Ugh!?”

“……”

I could see everything. I could understand everything. This sense of omnipotence.. It wasn’t just because my abilities had improved with my OOPArt. It was also from the sheer focus born from a life-or-death struggle, the fact that I had already experienced something akin to a near-death experience. That experience had given me an objective view of death. The fear of dying had faded. I could charge forward without hesitation.

Despite the raging snowstorm, my body felt hot. I wasn’t sick. I was sweating, but it felt good. My nerves were sharper than ever. I could even feel each and every drop of sweat flowing down my body.

“What the hell… What the hell are you!?”

“Who knows? I don’t even know myself…!”

Right now, I felt like I could do anything.

“Iizuka, I’ll teach you one last thing.”

“The hell!?”

“My OOPArt.. Each time I land an attack on my opponent or when I touch their OOPArt, it gradually dyes their artifact in the colour of ink.”

Eighty percent of Iizuka’s OOPArt had already turned pitch black, as if painted over with ink.

“And when an OOPArt is completely stained in ink, it loses all of its functions.”

At last, Iizuka noticed his artifact turning black.

“This is a checkmate.”

I delivered a full-powered strike straight into Iizuka’s stomach. At the same time, his OOPArt turned completely black.

“【Inkification】—Once that happens, your OOPArt’s transformation ability, monster-exterminating attribute and body enhancement effects are all gone.”

Total nullification of an OOPArt. That was my artifact’s ability.

“My OOPArt is a weapon specialized in overpowering others of its kind.”

“Hah…! You’re just making things up to cover your defeat…”

Iizuka’s knees buckled.

“What the…?”

Like a puppet with its strings cut, his entire body lost strength.

“T-This can’t be real! My strength… Is fading…!?”

This monstrous transformation—though I didn’t know the exact mechanics behind it, it was clear that his OOPArt was behind it. And once his OOPArt was rendered useless, Iizuka could no longer maintain his form.

“This OOPArt does have monster-exterminating attributes, but…. An anti-Seeker OOPArt… Seriously, it’s like the Seeker profession itself despises me.”

In a normal exploration mode, abilities for countering Seekers and OOPArts were nothing but dead weight.

“Ah… Why… Why, why, whyyy!!?”

Iizuka kept shrinking, while his OOPArt, Grandma, returned to its original form. Iizuka’s body became half-human, half-monster.

“No… no…!! I don’t want to die! S-someone, help me…!”

Iizuka reached out. Starting from his feet, he gradually turned to dust. Losing his legs, he collapsed onto the ground. Looking down at Iizuka, I said.

“…Sorry, but I neither know how to turn you back, nor do I have any intention of doing so.”

“Wh-…Why…?”

“Iizuka, you taught me something. That there are people in this world beyond saving. I once admired the idea of a hero who rescues everyone, no matter if they’re villains or not, but that’s impossible for me. I see no reason to let scum like you live.”

“Th…that…! Y-you’re… horrible…! You… D-demon… Scum…!”

Iizuka’s body crumbled into dust and finally, he vanished. I let out a quiet breath and stopped supplying magic power to Kurogane. As soon as I did, Kurogane disappeared, and in its place, my prosthetic arm returned.

“…So when I stop supplying magic power to it, it reverts to the prosthetic arm shape.”

I let my knees give out and sank to the ground.

“Hamura-san!!”

Kisaragi cast 【Blossoming Healing Mist】, but—

“I-I’ll heal you right away!”

“It’s no use, Kisaragi… This isn’t about wounds.”

“No way… Magic power depletion syndrome!?”

I nodded. I had used too much magic power. My body felt sluggish. This time, my body was burning in all the wrong ways. Ever since I ran into Iizuka, I had been going all out. This outcome was inevitable.

“Tch. This is bad.”

I heard multiple footsteps. Monsters appeared, surrounding us. With Iizuka—the ruler of this territory—gone, they started flooding in.

“…!!”

Kisaragi spread both arms in front of me.

“Kisaragi… It’s fine. You should run. At least you need to survive.”

“I won’t run! As your Supporter, I will protect you until the very end!!”

She spoke firmly, but her body was trembling. Even after awakening to an OOPArt and defeating Iizuka… Everything was in vain now.

“Guuh… GRAAAAHHHH!!!!”

The monsters lunged at us all at once. But—

A hail of black bullets rained down on them, sending them crashing to the ground.

“Looks like we made it in time.”

Between us and the monsters, several figures landed. The ones who appeared were ten members of Odd Cat. I knew every single one of them. Four top-ranked A-rank Seekers and their Supporters, as well as Abisu, an S-rank Seeker, and her Supporter, Isshiki-san.

“Abisu…”

“I heard you two got transported here. We negotiated with the Guild Association to open a gate. Leave the rest to us.”

Riku lifted me onto his back.

“Riku…”

“Looks like you pushed yourself pretty damn hard. You’re really light.”

Isshiki-san kept glancing at me with a worried expression on her face.

“…You overdid it… Idiot.”

“Sorry, Isshiki-san. I’ll leave the rest to you.”

Those were my last words before I lost consciousness.

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