Chapter 5
Yuurai had no idea how long she had been asleep.
"......Still alive, huh. Not that I would've minded dying."
Yuurai let out a deep sigh.
Then, she suddenly realized she could see. Her eyes had recovered, and the internal organs that had been spilling out were now properly back inside her abdomen.
"I'm healed......? Why? I mean, I'm grateful, but still...... And how did I manage to sleep like this?"
Yuurai was still suspended in the air. Her body was being supported by her arms, which were tied with rope—normally a very painful position. Yet, somehow, she didn't feel much pain. Maybe something had changed in her body.
"I wanna get down...... Is there any magic I can use...... Oh? I broke it with just arm strength."
Her strength should have been that of an average child, but with a light pull, the rope snapped easily. Apparently, her strength had increased.
Yuurai fell and landed on the ground.
"Ahh, yeah, the ground is nice after all. Still, that Corruption thing—it's seriously dangerous. Killing tens of thousands of innocent people...... That's just insane. I really don't want to use it again."
The Corruption had already worn off. However, perhaps due to lingering effects, she felt little guilt over the indiscriminate mass slaughter. It felt no more serious than accidentally stepping on someone's foot.
"......It's not like I wanted to become humanity's enemy, but I'm doing a fine job of walking the dark side. Damn it, this is all your fault."
Yuurai kicked away a suit of armor lying on the ground.
Uro was apparently a spell that only devoured living beings. Everything except the flesh remained in place, and there was no damage to buildings or anything else.
The humans who were eaten had been absorbed into Yuurai, becoming her nourishment. It felt like she had consumed both their souls and bodies on a massive scale.
"Ah, did my hair color change too? It used to be black, but now it's white. Stress, maybe?"
Yuurai wasn't particularly attached to her hair color, so it felt like a minor change.
But when she took a closer look at her body again—
"Hm? Did I grow a bit......? My chest looks slightly fuller too......?"
She hadn't looked in a mirror since reincarnating, so she couldn't be sure. But it seemed her body, which had been that of a ten-year-old, had grown by two or three years. Her height had increased, and she could feel some feminine curves.
"Heh, hoh, so this is what budding looks like...... It's my own body, but this size is kinda cute...... No, wait, more importantly, how long am I planning to stay stark naked? I should put some clothes on."
During the torture, she had been stripped naked. Her rage at those damn lolicons felt like something from long ago.
Yuurai searched for clothes she could wear. She borrowed a long-sleeved shirt from a soldier and put it on. The sleeves were long, but the hem was enough to cover her lower half, so it would do for now. She could find proper clothes once she got above ground.
"If my appearance has changed, maybe my status has too......?"
Name: Filanzer (Kamiya Yuurai)
Race: Dark Lich
Gender: Female
Age: 3 months
Level: 13
Combat Power: 82,700
Magical Energy: 925,000
Skills: Dark Magic Lv.5, Darkness Resistance, Wisdom, Undying
Titles: Dark Witch, Demon King
"......Huh? I've grown in various ways, but even my name's changed? What the hell? Filanzer......? Hm, I don't get it. Also, it looks like a whole month passed without me knowing? Well, maybe I was originally two months and twenty days old or something, so I can't say for sure how much time has passed. Whatever. I had the Dark Witch title before, which increased the power of Dark Magic and made it easier to learn spells. But what's Demon King? Did I become one?"
When she focused on it, the details surfaced.
Demon King: One with the potential to rule the world. Increases destructive power and the ability to command others.
"Pretty vague...... I guess I'll figure out the real meaning eventually......?"
She didn't understand the specifics, so she decided to leave it for now.
"Dark Magic—do I have more spells now......?"
Dark Magic Lv.5: Spirit Sight, Soul Extraction, Soul Devour, Marionette, Magical Remodeling, Pain Infliction (Pain), Mental Corruption, Mental Manipulation, Absorption, Undead Creation, Corruption, Deep Corruption, Blade of Darkness, Concealment, Perception Disruption, Curse, Ruler of Darkness, Servant Enhancement, Army of the Undead
"Ohh...... I'm looking more and more like humanity's enemy...... If I were human, I wouldn't let someone who could use these spells live......"
Yuurai let out a deep sigh.
"You know? I was planning to live quietly and modestly, okay? I mean, with this female body, building a cute-girl harem would be weird, and I didn't want to be some hero everyone admired either. But thanks to a bunch of idiots with the wrong idea, I got pushed into this mess. It's not my fault, alright?"
She didn't know who she was making excuses to. In any case, Yuurai finally decided to leave the underground prison.
"Ah, before that. I'll be taking that Treasured Sword."
She picked up the Treasured Sword that had fallen in the corner of the room.
Nearby lay the corpse of the girl who had owned the sword. Since she was already dead, Uro hadn't consumed her.
Perhaps because the room was so cold, the body hadn't started decaying yet.
Whether to memorialize her or use her for something—Yuurai would decide later. For now, she focused on the sword.
"If I carry this around, people might say something again...... I'll wrap it in cloth and hide it for now. It's not easy to use anyway, and I can't really handle swords to begin with, so whatever."
She wrapped the sword in some clothes lying nearby and secured it to her back with another piece of clothing.
Then, Yuurai climbed the stairs leading to the surface and opened the ceiling door to go up.
She emerged into a dim, damp room, then passed through another door leading outside. It was a corridor, and the surface was still out of sight.
"Umm...... I think I got a rough idea of the layout when I used Uro. This should be the east side of the castle...... So I should go this way......?"
Though there were a few forks in the path, Yuurai advanced smoothly by relying on her memory.
(Was my memory always this good? Is this the benefit of the Wisdom skill?)
After about ten minutes, Yuurai finally exited through the main gate of the castle.
"The sun is still blinding as ever...... Did I really become a creature of the night? I don't feel any weaker, but it's kinda unpleasant."
Looking a bit drained, Yuurai walked through the empty town. The overall layout featured a central castle with large roads extending in all four directions, and a river flowing east to west.
The southern part of town had been the busiest district. Yuurai headed in that direction.
"......A town with no one in it is really creepy. So lonely."
With no reason to rush, Yuurai leisurely explored the area.
Rows of brick buildings, rarely seen in Japan, lined the streets, and remnants of human life were scattered around.
There had been a market too, with stalls selling food, but the place wasn't filled with the stench of rot.
"Just like that girl, the cold's probably keeping things from rotting. Still freezing as ever. Must be near freezing point. If I weren't in a Monster's body, I couldn't walk around dressed like this."
It was cold, but not to the point that she felt chilled to the bone. She didn't seem likely to get sick.
Yuurai checked each building one by one until she found a clothing shop.
"Which one should I pick? I mean, since I'm a girl here, maybe I should try wearing something cute."
Yuurai felt a bit of resistance to wearing women's clothing. But she decided that resistance was meaningless now and tried on various outfits in the store.
Eventually, she chose a dark navy long-sleeved one-piece dress. There were even undergarments, so she put on the women's set.
"Hmm, can't deny the sense of immorality, but I'll get used to it eventually. I mean, I'm a girl now. Oh, maybe I should stop using 'ore' and switch to 'watashi'. Presentation matters, right?"
Yuurai continued exploring and discovered a shop that sold Magical Tools.
She first put on a black-themed robe that fit her size. She also found a stereotypical wizard's pointed hat and took that too. She didn't know what effects it had, but it probably offered good defense.
"This wizard-like outfit doesn't really match the Treasured Sword...... Oh well. I'll grab a staff too."
There was a large two-meter staff and a smaller one about thirty centimeters long.
Thinking about portability, she chose the smaller one. A blue gemstone was attached to the tip.
"......Wish I had an appraisal skill or something. I've got no clue about anything except my own status. No idea if this staff's good or not."
Yuurai felt like testing the usability of various things but decided against it. Her intuition told her that, for her, none of the staffs in the shop would make much difference.
"Now then...... I wonder if there's a map lying around somewhere? A library would be nice too. For some reason, I can read the writing in this world."
Just as Yuurai was about to leave the Magic Tool Shop, she heard a noise from outside.
(Someone's there? A survivor......?)
She focused her ears and could faintly make out voices.
"......There's something in that shop."
"Are you sure?"
"Yes. I sensed the presence of a powerful Monster."
"Is that the one responsible for destroying this town?"
"That's still unclear. However, it's true that something we've been sensing all this time has finally started to move."
"I see. It's been ten days since we began investigating this town as our base...... We must look into this lead."
(Hmm...... I don't know who they are, but they don't sound friendly. Sigh...... I hope it doesn't turn out like last time.)