How to Survive as a Genius Spy in the Game-Chapter 195: Forward Base (3)

‘Devil’s fragment.’

It was fortunate that I detected this quickly. The devil’s fragment was a huge variable even in the game.

Its strength was problematic, but its stealth was the real issue.

Right now it was making some noise due to its rapid movement, but otherwise it would be difficult to notice.

If it had approached near the forward base hidden in the darkness of night, we wouldn’t have even heard a sound, let alone seen the dark purple shadows.

In fact, if I didn’t have winds, I wouldn’t have noticed even now. If it had kept moving like this, it would have reached Erendil’s quarters by dawn.

Even with magic protection, I couldn’t guarantee Erendil would be safe.

‘I wonder if Rudehrn would have noticed before then.’

I’m not sure. I’ve never become a Sword Master. Moreover, it wasn’t even targeting him.

Still, I think there’s about a 70% chance he would have noticed. The problem is that 30% is not insignificant.

Even in the actual game, when progressing through the main story, many unexpected deaths of characters or companions were due to that fragment.

Of course, I discovered it first this time. I focused on the darkness flowing before my eyes.

The dark purple shadows moved over the white snow. Hidden in the darkness of night, it was barely noticeable unless you looked closely.

The devil would reveal itself if it sensed any stimuli from the surroundings. Of course, it wasn’t a real devil.

‘It’s a devil’s fragment after all.’

It was a piece of the devil’s power that had been broken off and scattered. As such, it couldn’t be compared to the devil itself.

Nevertheless, it was a tricky opponent. The devil’s power was beyond imagination to begin with. Still, I didn’t think I would lose, though it would be a tough fight.

‘At least it’s fortunate it’s far away.’

There was some distance between the forward base and this place. It wasn’t too far, but at least it wasn’t nearby.

It’s better to fight quietly.

Even though I was in disguise and that thing looked obviously like a devil, it wouldn’t be good to draw attention.

I wasn’t going to claim this as an achievement either.

“Hoo.”

I took a small deep breath and approached carefully. I didn’t pay too much attention.

It wouldn’t matter anyway. In that state, my attacks wouldn’t deal significant damage.

I needed to aim for the core inside. Attacking from the outside would probably only cause minor damage.

I slightly pushed the cross guard with my left thumb. Swish- Moonlight’s blade revealed itself a bit. It didn’t make a sound.

‘Still, it’s better to start with one strike.’

Hidden behind a tree, I moved winds. Thirteen blades of winds rushed towards the dark purple shadows.

Papak! Snow clumps flew up where winds struck. The same happened to the dark purple shadows.

There was no scream-like sound, but a strange sound like “chiiik-“ echoed.

After ensuring no sound would leak, I charged in gripping Moonlight.

Simultaneously, a dark red hand sprouted from the black darkness. The fingers themselves were sharp and thick, almost like blades.

The width was about three of my fingers combined. Even though the face hadn’t appeared yet, the palm faced this way as if it had accurately sensed me.

‘Oh no.’

A dark red sphere appeared without warning and flew like a bullet. It was black magic. The speed was fast.

I put my knee on the ground and pulled my upper body back. I slid on the snow with my knee.

Two dark red spheres passed about 15cm above my head, striking the trees behind me.

Swish! Fwop! Holes were punched in the not-so-small trees. After a faint vibration felt through the ground, I heard the sound of leaves rustling violently. ℝ𝓪₦ồʙЕ𝐒

And in that gap, it revealed its form. It looked like a devil. Of course, it was much smaller than the main body.

About 2m 20cm. The avatar’s purple eyes captured me.

‘I wonder if the devil is watching me through those eyes.’

It was unknown whether the avatar was connected to the devil. This wasn’t revealed even in the game.

However, looking at the eyes I encountered, it didn’t seem connected.

The small devil frowned grotesquely at me. There were no words, but discomfort and anger were visible.

I guess it meant something like, why are you interfering with us here too?

After all, I had killed a high-ranking executor and stopped the previous terror attack. I must be their number one target for elimination.

Of course, this means I’m doing well. There was no need for conversation anyway. I charged again, kicking off the ground.

‘Still, sending a fragment suggests they don’t know the situation yet.’

A positive thought occurred to me. If they knew the emperor’s plan, they would have sent an army together.

Since they don’t know, there’s a high chance they were aiming for Erendil.

Of course, that’s not important right now. I pushed the thought aside. The distance closed in an instant.

However, I couldn’t get any closer. Suddenly, darkness appeared where I was about to step.

Another hand sprouted from the darkness that appeared on the snow field. I avoided it by putting strength in my right ankle, calf, and thigh and dodging to the left.

The devil’s hand viciously clawed the air.

I put strength into my left foot as I landed and leaped forward again. I lost some speed, but not enough to lose my forward momentum.

***

Carlyn focused on the Moonlight Technique. This was his first real combat after entering 5-star.

Originally, he had planned to test it against the Archmage, but there was an even safer and more certain method.

He extended his sword from left to right. The moonlight that bloomed over Moonlight cut through the air. Under the moon in the sky, the moonlight was brighter than ever.

His winds minimized air resistance. As Moonlight rushed at a terrifying speed, it was about to touch the devil’s body. The devil disappeared in an instant.

‘I expected it, but… it’s tricky.’

It was short-range spatial jump magic. The devil was versed in both swordsmanship and magic, and this applied to its avatar as well.

The devil that appeared behind Carlyn aimed for his back. Carlyn rotated his body using his waist strength.

A sword suddenly appeared from the devil’s outstretched hand. The dark purple sword clashed with Moonlight.

Clang-! Along with the metallic sound, tendrils of darkness extended from the devil’s sword and wrapped around Moonlight.

It was similar to the tentacles he had experienced in his past battle with Pelia. Of course, there was a significant difference in thickness.

While thin tendrils of darkness wrapped around and held Moonlight, the devil’s left hand aimed for Carlyn’s right side.

Carlyn gritted his teeth and put strength into Moonlight. He had to maintain his composure. The fiercely operating Moonlight Technique intensified the moonlight on Moonlight.

After cutting through the dark tendrils wrapping the sword and pushing away the devil’s sword to the opposite side, he twisted his wrist to defend his right side at the shortest distance.

Chirkkk-! Despite being bare-handed, it felt like clashing with steel. The devil’s left hand grabbed Moonlight.

Tendrils extended again, trying to wrap around Moonlight.

‘This is annoying.’

Carlyn created a space between his hand and the sword with his winds and pulled the sword diagonally downward.

The moonlight cut the devil’s palm, regaining freedom. Instead of blood, dark purple darkness splattered onto the snow.

The snow touched by the darkness began to burn and melt with a hiss. Carlyn stepped back twice.

It was his first encounter with this opponent and fighting style.

If forced to compare to humans, it was similar to a magic swordsman. Even Carlyn needed time to think.

However, an answer didn’t readily come to mind.

‘I can’t distance myself.’

As the creature was also skilled in magic, that would be a one-sidedly disadvantageous path. But getting closer was also problematic.

The tendrils of darkness extending from the sword and hand were variables. Although he had handled them well so far, one mistake could lead to unfavorable results.

But in the end, he had no choice but to close the distance. After all, Carlyn was a swordsman. His thoughts couldn’t continue for long.

Right away, the ground at Carlyn’s feet was dyed with darkness. It happened in an instant.

Carlyn instinctively kicked off the ground and flew backwards, doing a backflip in the air.

The devil’s hand that sprouted from beneath his feet sharply clawed the air. The sound of air being cut was chilling.

‘I guess I have no choice but to engage while thinking.’

Carlyn kicked the ground immediately after landing. He charged again, avoiding the devil’s hand. For now, he couldn’t see a solution.

The best method was to find a weakness while engaging the opponent.

He advanced at full speed with the assistance of his winds. Hands sprouting from the ground tried to block his charge.

Spheres of darkness were shot from all directions.

Carlyn avoided them by twisting his body left and right while watching the darkness. He minimized speed loss with wind.

It was evasion and advancement without any wasted movement. However, just before the sword made contact, the devil jumped through space again.

Moonlight cut through the air. This time it was from the left. The devil rushed towards his side.

Although he slowed it with his winds and extended his sword, his response was a beat late as he had been expecting the back from the beginning.

The devil’s fingertips grazed Carlyn’s left forearm. It wasn’t deep. However, tendrils of darkness that bloomed from the fingertips wrapped around his forearm.

Blood that spurted stained the white snow. Perhaps due to the devil’s power, a wider area than the cut part throbbed. He endured the slight convulsion by gritting his teeth.

‘It evades when engaged, and its body is like steel…’

As the moonlight had wounded its palm, he could inflict damage if he could attack properly.

However, the problem was that landing a clean hit was difficult due to the short-range spatial jumps.

Suddenly, an idea flashed through Carlyn’s mind. The short-range spatial jumps couldn’t be used consecutively anyway.

In the end, it meant he just needed to predict where it would appear. Then he could catch it off guard.

For that, he needed to know its habits. After all, even prediction required measuring distance.

The focus was on which direction and how far it jumped through space.

‘I’ll have to endure some damage.’

Carlyn charged again without stopping. His winds focused more on support than attack. It was being saved for a decisive move.

The devil sometimes blocked the sword, sometimes avoided it. Carlyn paid close attention to the latter.

Which direction it moved, how much distance it put. However, the pattern wasn’t consistent.

In the process, Carlyn didn’t come out unscathed. Following his left forearm, he was wounded on his right shoulder and chest. Hot blood spread over his clothes.

Although not deep, the pain and convulsions were worse than the wounds. He could feel his movements becoming slightly duller.

Carlyn felt his heart racing. Even after observing, the answer was hardly visible. The pattern became more diverse, as if the fragment was learning about Carlyn.

‘…Should I call Rudehrn?’

While he didn’t think he would lose, there was even less guarantee of winning. As time passed like this, defeat was drawing closer.

Damn it. How could he catch the devil if he couldn’t even catch this one? Carlyn cursed inwardly and gritted his teeth.

It’s just a fragment after all. Let’s think calmly.

Stay cool and composed in any situation. This is what he had learned since childhood.

‘I’m thinking too much.’

It was a sudden realization. He was considering too many paths to target the spatial jumps. Forget that and focus only on the immediate battle.

This 𝓬ontent is taken from fгeewebnovёl.co𝙢.

Carlyn concentrated on the moonlight blooming over Moonlight. Wind wrapped around his body. Shaking off distracting thoughts, he kicked the ground. The devil avoided once again.

That’s when it happened. Saaak- A very faint sound reached Carlyn’s ears. What was that?

He glanced slightly in the direction of the sound, but there was nothing noteworthy to the naked eye.

But for a moment, the devil revealed itself from the direction of the sound. Carlyn now thought he had found the answer.

If he had maintained his composure and concentration from the beginning, he could have noticed much earlier.

Regret is always late, but it was fortunate to discover it even now.

The blood that had flowed from his left forearm was running down the back of Carlyn’s hand. Carlyn shook off the blood with a wrist snap.

‘I’ve got a sense of it.’

Now it was time to make the opponent’s body bleed. Carlyn rolled Moonlight in his palm and gripped it.

Author's Thoughts

Hi everyone, I've completely translated this novel! For those who love this novel and wanted to binge read until the last chapter, you can go to my Patreon "Shop" page. There, I have a product in which you can read them with discounted price!