Survive as a Prison Guard in the Game

Chapter 107
Preparation (1)

*Whoooosh!*

A cold wind blew through the cave at the top of the snowy mountain. He shivered because he didn’t have the temperature stabilizer magic on his uniform.

“It’s uncomfortable to be without it.”

With a puff of white breath, he dug into his subspace pocket and pulled out some firewood.

Tearing a magic scroll on top of it.

The fire magic burst into flames, igniting the carefully stacked firewood.

*Crackl!*

He extended his hand to thaw out the cold.

“……Huu.”

When a person reaches the point of life and death, they are freed from physical constraints. However, one never knows when one will reach the threshold.

Although he can use mana to drive away the cold.

Since it’s not something he can do every day, he decided it wouldn’t be a bad idea to have a few items to keep him warm.

After warming up a bit, he picked up the Branch of Innocence and the Curse of Lies Necklace.

Boss Raid.

Pinocchio of Lies.

The Branch of Innocence, a pre-quest reward for killing the Fallen Queen of the Dryads.

A Necklace containing the Curse of Lies, the first reward for clearing the Boss Raid.

When a player acquires these two items.

One was able to get a recipe to combine the two together.

“Time to get started.”

From his subspace pouch, he retrieved a wide glass vial. Digging into the ground lightly, he buried the vial. Next, he pulled out some high-quality holy water and poured it into a vial.

He placed the branch of innocence into the vial.

As it absorbed the holy water, the flowers on the branch began to emit a white light. Allowing it time to absorb the holy water.

He added the necklace bearing the Curse of Lies to the vial and sealed the container.

*Oooooooh!*

The vial shook violently as the Cursed Necklace reacted with the holy water.

Conflicting energies.

The necklace with the curse rattled wildly as it bounced around, but this wasn’t a vial that could be easily broken.

Since it was originally used to store curses and conduct various experiments, there shouldn’t be any problem with it.

*Sizzle!*

The seal on the necklace was weakened by the holy water, and the curses within it flowed out and filled the vial.

A black curse, and a clear holy water.

The liquid curse and holy water split exactly in half. Opening the lid, he deposited a crystal the size of a fingernail.

A crystal of fusion.

A crystal that could fuse anything together, usually used by dwarves to craft weapons and armor, or by wizards to conduct their experiments.

*Whirr!*

A small vortex formed inside the vial. Opposing energies mingled into a grayish liquid.

And the branch of innocence began to absorb the combined energies.

The plum blossoms, which had been radiating white light, turned gray and quickly began to wither and produce fruits.

After a considerable amount of time.

All of the liquid in the vial had been absorbed by the branch, and three plum fruits dangled from it.

“Did I succeed?”

Removing the lid, he picked up the branch and a message window popped up.

[Ding!]

[You have successfully crafted an S-class item].

[The Fruit of False Truth]

-A fruit that makes everything that is false become true.

-After eating the fruit, memories can be manipulated. The affected person will think the fabricated memory is the truth.

-Only applies to one person.

-Triggers automatically when facing an Abyssal Eye.

-The person with the Abyssal Eye also believes the fabricated memory to be true.

The same prompt that he had seen in the game appeared.

The first time he saw it, he wondered what it was.

After several users analyzed it, it was tentatively concluded that it was used to break the spell of Rodwell, the as yet unimplemented leader of the Darkness Seven.

“If there are three, I can eat one.”

Fabian and Vivian.

And then him.

If he can manipulate the memories of the three of them, they’ll be able to join the ranks of Darkness Seven and avoid Rodwell’s suspicions.

He packed the items in his subspace pouch.

After removing any evidence, he fetched some more firewood to start a fire and rest for a while. Suddenly, he felt footsteps approaching the cave entrance.

Two figures.

Using Ghost Walk, he made his way to the cave entrance and looked around. A man and a woman, covered in snow, were running toward the entrance.

A pale-faced man and woman in tattered clothes.

It was Fabian and Vivian.

Their eyes locked on the dead snow bear, and they looked around warily.

“Eat and come in.”

Once inside the cave and seated, Fabian and Vivian appeared, both wiping blood from their mouths.

Eyes still alert.

Fabian kept his distance and asked cautiously.

“Are you really the vice-captain?”

“Well, how do I convince you?”

“Do you have your ID?”

He tossed him his Burning Hell ID, and when Fabian examined it, he took a seat by the fire without a word.

“It’s real.”

“Tell me what you’ve been up to.”

“There was a warehouse near Count Dante’s mansion where blood was stored.”

A warehouse that Count Dante had set up to enjoy blood like wine.

“I spent a few days in there, mostly replenishing my blood and getting used to having an altered body.”

“And?”

“I was on my way to Obelia to execute the plan you laid out for me in the warehouse.”

That was exactly what he had expected.

But there was one thing.

There was something unexpected.

The intensity and aura around Fabian was weaker than he was expecting.

“How much experience do you have with your abilities?”

“To be honest, I’m not sure. Monster hunting was too easy, and I haven’t had time to utilize any of my special abilities.”

“Huh? Let’s check your skills first. Follow me.”

He stood up from the ground and walked out of the cave.

Standing on a blustery snowy mountain, he drew his sword and tapped into his mana.

He warded off the cold and warmed up his body’s muscles.

Fabian followed behind, looking at him with a grim expression.

“This could be dangerous, Vice-Captain. I have no idea what my strength is…….”

“Shut up, and come fight me.”

“Understood.”

Fabian kicked the ground and launched himself.

Despite his speed, every movement was easily read.

He sidestepped Fabian’s attack with ease.

Instead, he took advantage of the opening to deliver a counterattack. The aura blade of his sword was heading for Fabian’s neck.

*Swipe!*

The sword sliced through thin air.

Fabian dodged the blade with his nimble body and extended his hand. The blood from Snow Bear’s corpse pooled in his hand.

Fabian grasping the red sword, he rushed to attack.

*Clang!*

*Skkrrrr!*

They traded blows, and then he spread his mana throughout his body to charge in.

Rotating his body, he employed a Gust Slash.

The snow on the ground billowed up, obscuring his opponent’s vision, and he used a Gust Slash, aiming for Fabian together with the wind.

*Whooosh!*

Fabian was looking straight at him.

“I can see all your attacks.”

“I know.”

Fabian’s unique ability.

A natural talent for reading his opponent’s movements.

But so far in battle.

That was all it was.

Fabian hadn’t been able to harness the power of the vampire, and all he’d been able to use was a sword made of blood.

“It’s not enough…….”

He needed to push him to a more extreme situation.

Grabbing the Archmage’s Desire from his subspace pouch, he materialized two shadow alter egos and charged at Fabian.

The first shadow aimed for Fabian’s neck with a flurry of slashes.

The second swung his sword at Fabian as he twisted to avoid it.

*Clang!*

Fabian twisted fluidly to block the blade.

The first shadow swung at Fabian again.

“This!”

The two shadows distracted Fabian, finding the perfect opening and delivering a blow.

*Slash!*

A long sword cut into Fabian’s back.

Crimson blood dripped from his blade.

At the same time, two swords made of shadows crossed over Fabian’s body as he froze in place.

“Ugh!”

Blood dripped from Fabian’s mouth.

He shuddered slightly, and then something changed. His fangs lengthened and his eyes flashed red.

Instinct overrode reason.

Using his shadow alter ego, he twisted the shadow sword.

“Aaahhhh!”

With a scream, Fabian moved, grabbing the shadow figure by the throat and snapping it off.

It disintegrated into nothingness.

This was the first time he’d ever seen it vanish like that. He checked to be certain, but he couldn’t summon it immediately.

Apparently there’s a cooldown.

The good news is that the power and mana distributed when creating the alter ego has returned back to him.

“I’ll have to keep that in mind.”

He focused on Fabian again.

He was using the blood from his own body to heal his wounds, and he was unleashing a deadly energy toward him.

His breathing was labored, and he looked like he might lunge.

The moment the wound healed, Fabian’s eyes and teeth returned to normal.

“Huff… Huff.”

“I think I know how to roughly do this.”

“Huh?”

He lunged at Fabian.

With his unique ability, normal attacks won’t work.

Faking a sword strike.

Foreseeing his movements, he twisted his center of gravity, while simultaneously using the shadows to subdue Fabian’s body.

In the Hell War, he was unable to use his shadow power properly because there were too many eyes watching, but here, there were no prying eyes.

Without hesitation, he stabbed the sword into Fabian’s heart.

“Ughh!”

Withdrawing the sword from the heart, blood gushed out and Fabian fell to the ground.

Fangs growing back.

And red eyes.

He pulled out a magic scroll as he watched the awakened Fabian use blood magic to survive and try to heal himself.

*Boom!*

Fabian’s entire body erupted in flames as blood magic was replaced by mana.

*Roar!*

Fabian let out a scream as his blood burned.

“Argh!”

Vivian frowned at the sight and tried to move.

“You’d better hold still, unless you really want to kill him.”

“……What are you trying to do?”

Just as he was about to open his mouth to answer.

Without warning, Fabian leaped to his feet and lunged at him.

His speed was unparalleled.

Before Redin could react, Fabian grasped hold of his arm. He shielded it with mana and tried to pull his arm away.

*Snap!*

The bone shattered instantly.

Picking up the sword, he numbed the sensation of pain, allowing the cooldown shadow’s alter ego to attack Fabian.

*Clang!*

*Wham!*

Using Shadow Travel.

Utilizing his Fairy Wings.

He dodged Fabian’s attacks and let him run wild. Fabian utilizes the remaining blood in his body to the fullest.

The efficiency of his abilities has definitely increased.

*Boom!*

*Bam!*

“Ughh…….”

Having used up all of his remaining blood, Fabian collapsed to the ground.

*Thump!* *Thump!*

Approaching the fallen Fabian, he mixed his blood with an elixir from his subspace pouch and brought it to his mouth.

Feeding it to him.

Taking out another, he shoved it into his mouth, healing his broken arm.

“Let’s see…”

The number of remaining elixirs seemed insufficient. Taking out a rippling conch shell, he contacted Marek.

-What’s going on?

“I need some extra elixirs and some food that would last for a while.”

-How long?

“About a week for the food. For elixirs, I’d like as many as possible.”

-Okay. What else do you need?

“Um, I need some blood from a monster, preferably a high-grade kind.”

-I’ll put in a call to the black market. Will you be there?

He turned and looked at Vivian.

“I’ll send someone else over there, and they’ll have my ID, so you can send it to them.”