Repeat Vice - The Villainous Noble Doesn't Want to Die, So He Swore to Not Die As One of The Four Heavenly Kings - Chapter 34: Inside the Belly

Chapter 34: Inside the Belly

At the beginning of chapter 3 of the Alchemy Empire Edition, the enemy who appeared was Redcap.

The Empire hired him as a hitman, and he stood in the way of the protagonist’s forces from the beginning to the middle of chapter 3.

The mages on the protagonist’s side, such as the first princess of the kingdom, Aria, the great magician Maylin, and the saint Fran, were defeated before the battle even started by Redcap, forcing the protagonist’s side to fight without magic.

The remaining members of the protagonist’s forces are able to use magic, but they are either evaded or nullified by Redcap, rendering them meaningless. As a result, they are forced to attack with weapons or bare hands.

In the story, the protagonist, Abel, Faratiana, and Riruka managed to defeat him by ganging up on him.

For the protagonist’s forces, Redcap was a difficult opponent to deal with.

Rofus, who knows the story, is aware of the existence of Redcap.

He did not expect that an enemy who would appear in the Empire in chapter 3 would be encountered in the present, three years before the story began, in the northern region of the kingdom, Steria.

However, even if they knew of the existence of Redcap, they would not be able to prepare for a sudden encounter.

For a typical mage like Rofus, Redcap was an opponent that was extremely disadvantageous to fight against.

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—–The Dark Wall: Dark Cliff.

Rofus deployed Dark Cliff without chanting and deflected the approaching knife. Then, a swarm of small shadow familiars, Sword Fish, attacked Redcap.

Redcap narrowed his eyes upon seeing the knife deflected by the dark wall.

“Your spell casting speed is quite fast. That’s a good arm.”

Despite the conversation, Redcap skillfully evaded the approaching black sword fish while closing in on the looming dark wall and slashed it with the knife’s blade.

Immediately afterwards, Dark Cliff ruptured like a popped balloon and dissipated.

A knife that effortlessly destroys magic.

This secret lies in the knife and Redcap’s eyes.

The knife held by Redcap is a custom-made product made entirely of the metal with the best magical conductivity in this world, Mithril.

And despite having no magic power, he was born with a special magical eye.

This eye can directly see magic power.

It’s not the same as a person feeling magic power or Rofus reading information from a spell by seeing a spell formula.

In Redcap’s eyes, all of the magic power flowing in a person’s body, the preparation, construction, deployment, and spell formula of a magic spell are all clearly visible.

Therefore, he can insert a knife through a gap in a magic barrier spell formula, or inflict a wound on a magic spell’s barely noticeable gap, causing the spell formula to collapse and destroying the magic spell itself.

An eye that sees magic and a Mithril knife that can interfere with magic, combined with the knife skill of inserting a blade into a gap in a spell formula, which can be called a divine skill, resulted in the realization of magic destruction.

It is because Redcap can accomplish this so easily that he possesses an overwhelming strength against mages.

Rofus expected that the sword fish would not stop him and that Dark Cliff would be destroyed.

Rofus’s intention was to lure Redcap to Dark Cliff.

From the dark underfoot of Redcap, a black sea dragon was waiting and appeared, opening its large mouth.

However, the sea dragon that had swallowed him whole was torn apart and destroyed from the inside by the spell formula.

“I can see it. Even though you were hiding in the shadows, I can see everything. It was a hassle to avoid it, so I didn’t bother.”

Redcap, who emerged from the destroyed sea dragon as if he was taking a stroll, summoned a dark sickle, Dark Sais, in his right hand, which had a knife stuck in it.

With a large black slash attack, he attacked Redcap.

“Dark magic to stop the bleeding…? Interesting. But for a wound that deep, it’s like pouring water on hot stone.”

Despite the surprise, Redcap remained calm, and even chuckled, repelling the black slash attack with his knife.

The black slash was destroyed and dissipated as soon as it came into contact with the knife.

Rofus opened his eyes wide in disbelief.

A slash attack with such speed, and a spell formula that could be cut and destroyed even while avoiding it.

Not even Rofus had expected it to go this far.

Another bead of unpleasant sweat trickled down Rofus’s cheek.

Redcap chuckled smugly.

“I can see you’re getting anxious. You’re at a loss, aren’t you?”

Rofus glared at him, but Redcap remained calm and threw a knife at Rofus’s feet.

Rofus was shocked.

The knife embedded itself in Rofus’s feet, disrupting the spell formula he was constructing, and the magic failed to activate and fizzled out.

The magic that was destroyed was the Shadow Move.

Rofus’s escape route was cut off.

“I told you, I can see it. I thought you’d show some smarts and make a run for it in the gaps, but I must admit, you’re a strong kid for using no-chant magic at your age.”

Redcap chuckled amusedly and in response, Rofus despondently created a large number of magic circles in the back.

The magic that would be activated was a countless number of Dark Lances.

However, the magic circle was damaged by the single knife thrown by Redcap, causing the expansive magic circle to crack and shatter.

“No matter how many magic circles there are, the only path that exists for you is one. All I have to do is sever it. It’s simple.”

While Redcap contemplated, blood flowed freely from Rofus’s neck.

Rofus’s wound was too deep, and he was unable to completely stop the flow of blood.

Slowly but surely, Rofus’s consciousness faded, and his vision became blurry.

Seeing the motionless Rofus, Redcap tilted his head.

“Well, that should be enough. You tried to use a transfer spell, so you must have no more trump cards, right?”

Redcap prepared eight knives, four in each hand, and threw all of them at Rofus.

The eight knives flew towards Rofus at high speed.

Rofus closed his eyes in resignation and was struck by the impact.

The impact was not caused by the knives.

Rofus opened his eyes to see Riruka Skyfield’s face in front of him.

Riruka covered him like a shield.

Blood dripped from Riruka’s lips onto Rofus’s cheek.

The blood was not Rofus’s, but Riruka’s.

Riruka had a knife deeply embedded in her back, and one of them had pierced her flank.

—Why?

Why are you here, why did you save me, why did you shield me and risk your own life?

Rofus, who had his throat slit, could not utter a word.

But it seems that Riruka understood what Rofus wanted to say, and despite her troubled face, she smiled at him.

“I should have been more clever and dodged, but…I messed up.”

Laughing weakly, Riruka then looked straight at Redcap.

Redcap narrowed his eyes.

“…What are you going to do, just stand there and watch? It’s useless, that action.”

Redcap could not understand why Riruka had risked her life to shield Rofus, who had a fatal wound, and would not let him use a high-level healing magic or a high-grade potion.

From Redcap’s perspective, it was beyond comprehension.

Redcap had noticed Riruka’s presence, who had been hiding in the room since the beginning of the fight.

Riruka was using a highly advanced concealment magic of invisibility and magic power blocking.

This concealment magic was close to the spell formula in the barrier concealment installed in the flying fortress.

Rofus, who relied on magic power, did not notice it, but Redcap, who could directly see the spell formula, had no meaning to this concealment magic.

Redcap asked what the meaning of that was, but Riruka did not answer and suddenly amplified her magic power explosively.

“—Tempest in the Air Against the Crazed”

What Riruka uttered was a top-level wind magic spell, Canceled Air Tempest.

“!?”

For the first time, Redcap showed surprise and agitation.

The speed of the spell formula construction and the short interval until activation of that magic far exceeded Redcap’s expectations, and he was unable to prevent its activation.

Soon, the room was filled with numerous aerial blades and raging wind.

A wide area annihilation magic, Tempest in the Air Against the Crazed.

The magic was compressed in a narrow space indoors, resulting in high-density air and numerous aerial blades filling the room.

“—Tsk.”

Redcap grumbled and expertly deflected the countless approaching aerial blades with one knife after another.

The characteristic of this magic is that each of the countless aerial blades flying around has an independent spell formula.

The magic circle of the main magic is engraved on the body of the magic user, Riruka.

However, numerous aerial blades are intersecting around Riruka and Rofus to protect them.

If Redcap were to approach the main magic circle, he would have to deal with more aerial blades.

For Redcap, this type of magic was extremely troublesome.

However, he was still unable to deal with it.

It is unlikely that he could even inflict a single wound on Redcap.

This magic delays him by the second.

Riruka turned to Rofus.

“Rofus, escape right now. I’ll take care of that man.”

“…”

Of course, Rofus, whose throat had been crushed, could not respond.

Rofus looked at Riruka with disbelief.

Rofus’s wound could be considered fatal, and Riruka’s wound was also a severe one.

In addition to having numerous knives embedded in her back, one of them had pierced her flank, and a large amount of blood was flowing out, creating a pool of blood of which it was difficult to determine the source.

Riruka had shielded Rofus and sustained serious injuries.

And now, she was asking Rofus to escape while taking on Redcap.

Rofus could not accept such a thing.

Especially since Riruka Skyfield was a member of the protagonist’s forces in the story who had killed Rofus countless times.

Rofus would never accept being saved by the protagonist’s forces.

If he were to owe a debt to the protagonist’s forces, Rofus would choose death without hesitation.

Rofus’s deep-rooted darkness was so dark that it appeared to others as mere stubbornness.

A deeply twisted emotion overflowed from the depths of his heart, and Rofus glared at Riruka with murderous intent.

Riruka sighed as if annoyed.

“What a scary face…Rofus, I don’t like your eyes very much.”

Riruka said and continued.

“Of course, I won’t just ask for nothing in return. Since I saved your life, I’ll have you listen to my request.”

Riruka’s words made Rofus narrow his eyes.

Riruka continued.

“I said this on the deck, but I want you to heal Iz sister’s illness. You said it was impossible, but that’s not the case. The method is… sorry, I don’t know it either. But it’s something that only Rofus can do… No, it’s something only Rofus can do.”

Riruka spoke with confidence, and Rofus raised his eyebrows in surprise.

Then, as if leaning on Rofus’s shoulders, Riruka said, “While we’re at it…”

“I also want you to save Shiguru brother and his friends. Sorry for just saying what I want. But I can’t save them anymore.”

Riruka said with a sad expression, touching the knife in her abdomen.

That was a plea.

A wish that Riruka wanted to grant, even if it meant putting her life on the line.

That wish was the peaceful resolution of the matter regarding the Redcap for the unique Red Wind family.

Rofus listened to this and quietly took a breath.

At the moment, there are many suspicious points about Riruka.

First, the fact that she is confident that Rofus can heal Iz sister’s illness.

And the fact that Rofus can see that she has outstanding magical skills.

In the story, Riruka was not particularly skilled in magic.

However, she was currently operating a high-level magic spell with cancellation chant, although the story had not even started yet.

However, despite the suspicious points, her purpose seems to be the peaceful resolution of the Red Wind matter.

Rofus thought for a moment… but even after swallowing everything, he could not bring himself to willingly accept Riruka’s wish.

On the contrary, Rofus was getting angry that Riruka had shielded him from the enemy’s attack and even tried to escape.

He felt as if he had been treated as inferior, and this was at odds with Rofus’s pride.

Rofus extended multiple Dark Hands from the dark floor.

One of them picked up a rolling potion and handed it to Rofus, while the remaining Dark Hands immediately restrained Riruka’s hands and feet.

“Huh? Wha?”

Riruka was puzzled, looking confused.

Rofus, who had taken the potion, opened the lid of the potion with one hand and forcefully poured it into Riruka’s mouth.

“What!? Huh…?”

At the sudden action of Rofus, Riruka was initially surprised, but gradually her wound began to heal and the knife embedded in her body fell out as it healed.

At the same time, the restraint by Dark Hands was released.

Seeing Riruka’s wound heal, Rofus smiled smugly and triumphantly.

Riruka, who understood that what was put in her mouth was a potion, looked at Rofus with a sword-swallowing gaze.

With her freed hand, she grabbed Rofus’s chest and pulled him towards her in one swift motion, spitting the remaining potion into Rofus’s mouth.

“What!?”

Rofus tried to push her away, but Riruka held him tightly and he could not escape.

Rofus struggled for a while, but eventually gave up and drank the potion.

Riruka confirmed this and slowly let go of Rofus’s lips.

Although the potion was only a small amount, it was a high-grade item, so its healing ability was significant.

Rofus’s throat wound was not completely healed, but it had recovered enough for him to speak.

Riruka, who had let go of Rofus, continued to look at him with sharp eyes.

“You’re not stupid.”

Riruka’s voice was shockingly cold.

This was the first time Liruka had shown clear anger towards Rofus.

“You used the potion even though you had picked it up, which means there was only one potion, right? You should have used it yourself. Why did you let me use it? I only took a sip. Didn’t you listen to what I said? I asked you to save everyone, didn’t I?”

Each word from Riruka was as sharp as a knife, blaming Rofus.

Rofus looked at her with cold, confrontational eyes.

“…Ever since you couldn’t talk, you’ve been saying whatever you want. What’s the point of saying that I’ll take care of that man? I’ll kill him. You should just back off.”

“What? Are you really stupid? Haven’t you realized by now that you can’t win against that man? Or have you forgotten that you would have died if I hadn’t saved you?”

Blue veins stood out on Rofus’s forehead.

“What do you mean, you saved me? You’re quite arrogant. I helped you at the ruin, so we’re even.”

“Are you bringing that up now? It’s not a good habit for a noble. Besides, don’t change the subject. The point is, you can’t win against that man, right?”

“Don’t mock me. If there were no magic restrictions, I could have—”

As the argument escalated, Rofus spat blood.

“Look, in this state, how can you…”

Liruka also spat blood.

Although Rofus had drunk the potion, his throat wound had not completely healed, and it was protected by darkness.

Riruka had also consumed only a small amount of the potion, which had sealed the surface wounds, but had not fully healed the internal injuries.

Both of them had continued to talk unnecessarily and vomit blood as a result.

And here, the deployed “Tempest in the Air Against the Crazed” came to an end.

Redcap had been deflecting the air blades and eroding the spell formula, so the activation time of “Tempest in the Air Against the Crazed” was significantly shorter than usual.

The raging wind stopped, and the air blades flying about disappeared.

In the half-destroyed bedroom, Redcap stood undamaged.

“Oh, I thought you had both escaped, but it seems you both want to die that badly.”

Redcap was surprised.

The job of Redcap was to guard Gilan, not to kill.

Of course, he would retaliate if he was attacked, and would not let them escape, but if they could escape, then so be it.

As long as his charge, Gilan, was safe, there was no problem.

However, Rofus and Riruka were the most challenging targets Redcap had encountered in his recent battles.

Although he was not a battle maniac, he was unexpectedly enjoying this battle.

“It’s been a long time since I’ve fought a mage with some spine. I hate weaklings’ blood, you know. But your blood looks delicious.”

Redcap’s red pupils narrowed like a cat.

That was a predator’s gaze.

Neither Rofus nor Riruka were particularly disturbed by this gaze.

“Oh… it’s out.”

“If you use that magic again, it should be fine.”

“Uh-oh, Rofus’s nonsense about magic power is showing. It’s a high-level magic spell, right? Normally, it can’t be continuously activated, you know?”

“Oh, I see. Your magic power is mediocre.”

“…Are you picking a fight with me?”

Riruka raised her eyebrows, but Rofus ignored her.

Redcap narrowed his eyes at Rofus, who was speaking normally.

“Oh, you’ve drunk a potion. You should have cut it off to begin with. Well, since you were able to chant, it’s all good.”

Rofus and Riruka continued to argue even after vomiting blood.

Redcap approached them confidently, holding a knife in one hand.

Seeing him approach, Rofus opened his mouth.

“— Without a Light World”

This was a high-level magic spell that Rofus activated with cancellation chant.

Its deployment speed was far beyond normal, and even Redcap, who could see spell formulas directly, could not see the process from construction to activation.

This meant that it was impossible to destroy the spell formula before activation and render it ineffective.

Rofus thought he would not be disabled at this level of deployment speed.

Redcap could not even hold its stance and was enveloped in dark fog.

However, Rofus did not activate “Without a Light World” because he was blinded by the brightness.

The floor and atmosphere were filled with darkness and dark fog.

This meant that it was the hunting ground of activated shadow familiars.

Upon Rofus’s command, various marine shadow familiars attacked Redcap in the dark fog.

At the same time, numerous Dark Balls were launched towards Redcap from all directions of the fog.

But all the Dark Balls were either evaded or destroyed, and Rofus felt the spell formulas of the shadow familiars being cut apart.

Furthermore, even amidst such fierce attacks, Redcap continued to approach Rofus without stopping.

Even after doing this, the level of restraint was not up to the level of Riruka’s “Tempest in the Air Against the Crazed.”

“…Is this enough?”

“It’s impossible, you can’t win against Redcap in your current state. Stop being stubborn and run away.”

Riruka tugged at the hem of Rofus’s coat.

Rofus looked at her with a puzzled expression.

“…I can’t win against Redcap in my current state? That’s a strange way of putting it. It’s as if you know all sorts of things that I don’t know.”

“…”

Riruka remained silent.

Rofus looked at her.

“I’ll have you explain everything later…Riruka Skyfield.”

Riruka smiled politely.

“Sure, later…Rofus Ray Lightless.”

Just then, Redcap appeared, as if jumping out from the dark fog, holding a knife in a threatening manner towards Rofus.

“Are you two going to chat? How lonely. Let me join in.”

Rofus responded belligerently with a smile.

“Old man, it’s rude to interrupt a young person’s conversation—Redcap…no, Stola Endowalker.”

Stola Endowalker.

That was the real name of Redcap that Rofus had learned through the story.

It was the name that had not been called by anyone for the past few centuries.

That was enough to shake Stola Endowalker’s heart.

“Where did you hear that name…?”

Redcap was suddenly called by his name and opened his eyes in shock.

That was the first time Redcap had shown a lapse in judgment.

Taking advantage of that lapse, a massive tentacle of Strolaf appeared from the floor in front of Rofus, attacking Redcap.

Redcap was blown away by the hit.

However, upon contact, it seemed that the spell formula had been cut, and even the tentacle itself, which was hiding in the faint shadows, was destroyed and scattered.

Shadow familiars could be repaired by magic power even if their spell formulas were destroyed.

However, if the spell formula is damaged, immediate resurrection is not possible.

Throughout this battle, Redcap had significantly reduced the number of shadow familiars that Rofus owned.

Rofus had been thinking hard about the meaning of a certain phrase since he had spoken to Riruka.

“…In your current state, you can’t win against Redcap.”

“What does ‘current’ mean?”

“Does it mean that if you were the future Rofus, you could win? Or does it mean that you can’t win in your current state? Or does it mean something entirely different?”

After looking back on his past battles with Redcap, Rofus thought about it with his slow, bloodied thinking.

If the spell formula is destroyed, there is no means of killing Redcap with existing magic.

However, if the number of hands is sufficient, it is possible, although killing is impossible.

The wide-range annihilation magic used by Riruka.

That magic, with an extraordinary number of hands, did not exist in dark magic.

Certainly, with this, Rofus could not win against Redcap.

Therefore, Rofus came to one conclusion.

“I’m glad, Stola. I created this magic just for you.”

This was the creation of a new magic.

If he could not kill him with existing magic, then he would create a magic that could.

This was Rofus’s simple, bold idea.

The sudden creation of a new magic was an action that ordinary people could not easily imitate.

However, Rofus’s boundless magical power, his outstanding magical sense, and all the magical practice he had accumulated so far made it possible.

This was a magic that was created just to kill Redcap.

A high-density dark magical power overflowed from Rofus’s body.

“This magic…is just for me?”

Redcap narrowed his eyes in front of Rofus and activated his magic.

“—Tartarus in the Darker Belly”

The magic was activated, but nothing happened.

The spell formula construction for magic activation was faint, and there was no magic circle deployment.

Redcap, who could see magic power with his eyes, could not see the manifestation of the spell formula within his visible range, anywhere near Rofus, Riruka, or Redcap’s surroundings.

No matter how much he looked, he could not sense the activation of the magic or its presence.

Redcap looked at Rofus with a look of astonishment.

Rofus smiled.

“What are you waiting for…? If you don’t kill me right now, you won’t have a chance to win against me.”

“What…?”

“Oh no, time’s up.”

Rofus pretended to shrug exaggeratedly.

Suddenly, Redcap seemed to notice something and looked down.

Before long, his expression became distorted.

“What…is this…?”

From under the floor, under the basement, and even from under the ground, Redcap’s magical gaze caught a massive something approaching at an incredible speed.

“…”

Redcap suddenly raised his head and ran towards Rofus with a knife in hand.

That was a speed that exceeded people at a level that Rofus could not follow with his eyes.

The multiple dark walls that Rofus activated in an instant.

Redcap cut through these spell formulas as he approached to take Rofus’s life.

That knife reached Rofus’s neck at that instant—A large black something appeared from underground to aboveground and swallowed half the mansion along with Redcap.