How To Suck Honey With Extras [EN]: Chapter 292

292. The End of the Villains (2)

“It’s a bit early, but… let’s use this.”

Crusoe, while continuing to channel mana to maintain the current spell, decided to implement a backup plan.

Of course, Kmelz noticed.

[Ho? You’ve prepared a separate scheme?]

“…….”

Instead of answering, Crusoe triggered the activation signal.

With a light flick of her finger, magical power surged around her, and a beam of blue light shot upwards.

[Have you set a trap?]

“To be honest, you are stronger than me.”

She readily admitted.

“It would be impossible to face such an existence fairly.”

[Sounds like that young spiritist friend of yours.]

“I won’t deny that I asked for advice and references.”

With a wry smile, Crusoe activated everything she had prepared.

Before the fight broke out, Crusoe had subtly installed the magical tools she had prepared around her in advance.

[Is it a trap?]

“It’s not that great… It just adds a little bit of power.”

The power of the magical tools that Crusoe activated soared to its maximum.

A colorless, transparent wave resonated, as if harmonizing with each installed magical tool.

Kmelz quickly realized what she was doing.

[A barrier…….]

“I guess I can’t hide it.”

She readily admitted.

And at that moment, the fully activated barrier pressed down on Kmelz’s entire being.

[Hmm… quite heavy.]

“It’s a barrier that reacts to black magic. It exerts pressure proportional to the amount of black magic you possess.”

Originally, it was a barrier used in large-scale black magician subjugation battles.

The standard operating procedure involved a large number of wizards chanting spells on the spot and preparing meticulously.

Crusoe streamlined it, using only the magical tools she had prepared in advance.

[You managed to prepare something like this…….]

“It’s not that simple, though.”

To be honest, she couldn’t have completed it alone.

Aylin helped.

When discussing tactics to deal with Kmelz before the attack, Aylin suggested this barrier.

And Crusoe, adopting his suggestion, decided to prepare a magical tool to deploy this barrier.

“Use everything you can… that’s the right thing to do.”

[Indeed… this is a bit much. Even Kmelz finds this burdensome.]

The momentum of the black magic he emitted began to slow somewhat.

But that was only for a moment.

[But it’s not enough! It’s too much for you to handle alone!]

“Then… I don’t want to do this, but!”

She increased the amount of mana injected into the spell.

The destructive cold emanating from the magic circle above her head intensified even further.

She intended to push through with brute force.

[Foolish! Do you think that forcibly drawing out mana will increase your output!]

The mana possessed by an ordinary human is limited.

[Have you forgotten the basics as a magician?]

Soon, the mana circle’s balance would collapse due to insufficient mana, and it would self-destruct.

“…I wonder about that?”

Crusoe increased the output, regardless of his criticism.

[Unbelievable.]

Kmelz finally muttered in amazement.

The amount of mana she emitted increased explosively.

Wasn’t it comparable to the amount of mana Aylin possessed?

It’s hard for a black magician to admit, but that’s an extraordinary amount of power.

[Hmm. I don’t know what trick you played, but… Is that your true strength?]

Kmelz must have judged that it was dangerous and responded by unleashing black magic in earnest.

The two magics intertwined, emitting a chaotic mixture of black and blue light, and violently repelling each other.

“Keuk?!”

[Gasp!]

Crusoe was pushed back by the backlash, and Kmelz was also thrown off balance.

Kwaang!

An explosion shook the interior.

Crusoe staggered to her feet, watching the light from the two exploded mana sources subside.

‘What about the lich?’

She quickly assessed the situation and chanted a spell.

Sharp blades of ice were created and flew silently, aiming at Kmelz, who had retreated behind one of the hall’s pillars.

[No carelessness.]

Kmelz held out his bony hand and summoned a wall of black magic to block the ice spear.

While he was blocking the ice spear…

Crack!

A sound like something breaking echoed.

[……Oh dear.]

Kmelz groaned as if he had suffered a setback.

Crusoe, who had approached his side unnoticed, stabbed the end of her staff into his torso.

[To think you’d make such a reckless approach in this situation…….]

“I’m also thinking it’s difficult.”

That might be a blind spot.

To think that a high-level magic battle would unfold and, in the end, she would try to deliver the finishing blow with a reckless melee attack.

“I think it’s absurd, but surely this is also a gap.”

The more skilled a magician is, the more likely they are to believe in magic.

Usually, they rely on the field they believe in and try to settle things with it, and they don’t try to use uncertain methods.

[Do you want to say that even Kmelz is steeped in prejudice?]

“…Please just think of it as luck.”

Crusoe unleashed the magic power contained in her staff without hesitation.

Even that fearsome lich would not be immune to magic power exploding from within.

Paang!

A sound like an explosion rang out, and Kmelz’s body was thrown back.

“…But it was shallow.”

The most desirable target is the core of the monster.

Giving a direct blow to the Life Force Vessel [the core of a monster’s life force] is ideal, but…

Even so, it would be difficult to expect that much by luck.

“Even so… the damage will be quite deep.”

[…That goes for you too? You’re overdoing it too much.]

“…….”

She had already used up most of her magic power.

She may have potions or recovery items, but even so, she can’t replenish all of it.

At best, a draw.

[But with this, ‘the goal is achieved’…….]

She knows.

While she was stalling for time, the other villains have already been eliminated or are being cornered.

Above all, even the hostages who had been detained seem to have been released a long time ago.

[…Well, was the hostage thing intentional? That’s too soft.]

“What do you mean?”

[No, it’s okay. Surely this must be considered a checkmate.]

“I believe this situation is the result of Kmelz Alfrens bringing it upon himself…….”

It’s not humility, but just an objective assessment of the facts.

If he had continued to hide his existence, even if they had discovered him, there’s no way they could have achieved this outcome.

Occupying the Forellos Empire itself was bound to be a misstep.

[Isn’t it unavoidable? You have to take risks to achieve what you want.]

“…What you want. Is that related to the field you are researching?”

[That’s a strange way of speaking. It’s not like you know.]

“It’s a good opportunity. It’s something I wanted to ask at least once.”

Creating the current confrontation itself is Crusoe’s true purpose.

The reason why she personally believed in the existence of Kmelz Alfrens and pursued him.

“I have a question I want to ask you.”

[A question. That’s a strange request.]

“…And depending on the answer, I have a duty to erase your existence, no matter what.”

[Duty? That’s even harder to understand. Isn’t this just about discussing pride as a magician?]

“…That tone means you still don’t remember.”

Kmelz was even more puzzled this time.

He couldn’t guess what she was saying at all.

“You and I are acquaintances.”

[I don’t understand even more.]

“Well, it wouldn’t make sense to remember it. At the time, you were just picking up a trivial creature that was an eyesore.”

[…….]

Only then did Kmelz stare intently at Crusoe’s face.

[……Is that so? It’s no wonder it took me so long to recognize you. Indeed! So that’s why you have that level of mana sensitivity!]

He spoke with a bitter tone, as if he had discovered an unexpected achievement.

[Was that the child back then?]

“…That’s right.”

Crusoe glared at him coldly and said.

“Because I was one of those you revived without a second thought in the past.”

The reason why Crusoe had to stop the lich.

To achieve that, she deliberately stood in this place, even at great risk.

“Well, it seems like it was just an insignificant experiment for an evil lich.”

* * *

Crusoe Elfamant still remembers.

The sight of the burning city…….

It was literally a disaster.

At the time, Crusoe, who was an ordinary child, didn’t know anything.

That day, she went out to play with children of the same age as usual.

That ordinary life of Crusoe was shattered by the sudden ringing of the bell.

Attack.

At the time, she didn’t even know what was going on.

All that young Crusoe remembers is the adults who were terrified for some reason.

They shouted at the children to go home quickly and ran somewhere.

Even a child with dull senses would have no choice but to know that something was wrong.

And soon after, ominous smoke rose outside the castle walls.

Shouts and screams.

Later, she learned that a nobleman who was dissatisfied with the lord who ruled the city at the time had hired thieves to attack the city.

However, at the time, she had no time to understand, and above all, she didn’t know what was happening.

“We would have died back then.”

Crusoe stated the fact calmly.

“I don’t think it’s a misunderstanding. I clearly had memories.”

[…….]

“I had strange memories from time to time.”

She was definitely dead, but she was alive.

There, she had a strange memory.

The scenery of an unknown place.

A dark space.

A gaze as if someone was watching her there.

“…It was only much later that I realized that it was you.”

[…….]

Kmelz is listening to Crusoe’s words silently.

“After that, I was apparently abandoned in a forest near the city. My current teacher and adoptive father found me and took me in.”

After that, Crusoe became his disciple and grew up as she is now.

In fact, there was no choice but to live a different life.

For some reason, she had more mana sensitivity than others that she didn’t have before. To control that power, she had no choice but to become a magician.

As a result, she was able to exist as a young genius magician.

Whether that is a blessing or a misfortune is another matter.

[Indeed. So that’s what happened… Was I an experimental subject back then?]

“You remember.”

[I do. Surely there are records from that time as well. …Oh, yes, I caused a change in constitution and gained higher mana sensitivity than before?]

Kmelz didn’t hide it.

[The only reason I didn’t recognize you was because the impression of the little girl at the time had changed. To think that the child I revived back then would come and stop Kmelz now. What a twist of fate.]

“…That’s a pity.”

Crusoe’s gaze, glaring at him, was cold.