C13: Gluttonous Flies (2)
"Only the bloodline of Baskerville can draw out this 'Ba'alzebub.'"
The inscription mentioned the name Baskerville and the sword.
"...So this was the artifact discovered here."
Vikir traced the outline of the sword with the extremely faint beams of light emitted by the shattered ruby fragments.
A black stiletto that resembled an elongated mouth protruded from the sword's spherical hilt, resembling three ruby-like beads.
The rough handle area had a greenish shimmering appearance, reminiscent of a large fly.
Vikir knew the true identity of this relic.
In his previous life as a child, he vividly remembered seeing it in an illustration on a page of a myth book.
"The Gluttonous Fly, Ba'alzebub (בַעַלְזְבוּב)"
The origin of this sword was a long story to explain.
In short, in ancient myth, there were demonic thrones known as the "Seven Calamities" that invaded this continent, and all the people of the continent united their strength to defeat these demonic thrones.
The remains of these seven demonic thrones, whether material or conceptual, somehow remained in the present world and gained a certain degree of power, although they were no longer able to interfere with causality.
One of them was this sword, Ba'alzebub.
It is known that the first boss of the Baskerville family, along with the heads of the other six noble families, fought and defeated one of the demonic thrones, and at that time, the boss of the Baskerville family took the position of the Gluttonous Throne, Ba'alzebub.
Due to this, the remains of Ba'alzebub were kept in the Baskerville family's territory, and it is now an ancient legend that, although there are hardly any believers anymore, the intense magical power emitted by this artifact gathered powerful monsters to its vicinity.
"But eventually, the legend turned out to be true, and this sword fell into the hands of demons."
This forgotten relic suddenly appeared on the battlefield one day and claimed the lives of numerous humans.
Even among the demons, the owner of this sword continuously changed, and perhaps the number of demons was far greater than the number of humans killed by this sword.
...But now the situation has changed a bit.
The remains of Ba'alzebub have fallen into Vikir's hands.
In his previous life, he was plundered by demons, and he didn't even know that he had been plundered, but now it will be different.
Buzzzzz-
The sword began to resonate with the mana emanating from Vikir. The buzzing sound of flies filled his ears.
Vikir reached out his hand and touched the stiletto. Surprisingly, Ba'alzebub, the black stiletto, started to be absorbed into his palm as if it were a part of his own flesh.
...Pop!
As Vikir extended his hand and exerted force, the sharp stiletto emerged from his wrist, revealing its fangs.
Ba'alzebub quietly lurked inside Vikir's body, ready to emerge and become an extra set of fangs when the owner's command was given.
However.
Ba'alzebub was a peculiar sword made from the corpse of a demonic throne.
This mere ability was not the extent of its supernatural power.
...Grrrr!
The moment Ba'alzebub took root within Vikir's body, an intense hunger suddenly gripped his abdomen.
"...What's this?"
Vikir was slightly taken aback.
In his previous life, he was accustomed to starving for a week and devouring everything in one meal.
He had often survived in hiding, drinking only water for a month during guerrilla warfare.
His stomach had been trained so harshly that it was unlikely to complain easily.
Even though he had returned to a young child's body, he couldn't believe he was this weak.
...Grrrr!
Once again, his stomach growled as if rebelling.
Vikir realized that this extreme hunger was not a common phenomenon.
"Do you want something?"
That was correct.
Ba'alzebub fluttered with buzzing fly sounds, staring at Vikir.
Sniff sniff-
His sense of smell had become sensitive, and he caught a delicious scent coming from somewhere.
It was the scent of magic. A tantalizing aroma wafted from outside the dungeon.
Vikir crawled out of the dungeon and dug his way through the ruined roots.
As he approached the border region and returned to where he originally was, the scent became even stronger.
The first thing he encountered was the corpse of a hellhound.
Ba'alzebub hadn't even called, but his teeth extended first.
Normally, a hunting dog that bared its teeth without the owner's command should be punished.
But this time, Vikir made an exception.
The hunger he shared with the demon was too intense.
"So, you've been starving for a long time."
The rock where Ba'alzebub was embedded and the surrounding soil were dried up and twisted.
No, the entire enemy and Black Mountain Range consisted of withered trees and parched earth. Perhaps it was all because of Ba'alzebub's insane hunger?
If that's the case, how much prey should he supply in the future to appease this glutton?
"..."
Vikir shook his head vigorously, dispelling his stray thoughts.
The power that Ba'alzebub possessed was sufficient to endure that kind of price.
Eventually,
Vikir began to reveal the power that he knew Ba'alzebub possessed.
Gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp, gulp.
Embedded in the neck of the hellhound's corpse, Ba'alzebub started sucking the blood at an astonishing speed.
Blood and organ juices flowed into Vikir through Ba'alzebub's proboscis-like tube.
His hungry intestines were filled. He felt the twisted organs finding their rightful places.
...Twinkle!
Vikir witnessed one of the three eyeballs Ba'alzebub had shining with an unusually brighter red color.
"He gained a skill."
That's right. Vikir's intuition was correct.
The gluttonous fly Ba'alzebub possessed the power to steal the unique characteristics and abilities of its opponents while devouring them.
The extent of this absorption was close to infinity, and countless individuals had been stripped of all the accomplishments they had achieved in their lifetimes, turning into incompetents and invalids.
Unfortunately, this was a corpse, so its impact was limited.
The ability to steal the opponent's skill was limited to three.
Vikir's Ba'alzebub acquired one skill by sucking the blood of the hellhound.
<Flesh-eating Fly 'Ba'alzebub'> / Proboscis
Slot 1: Bleeding - Hellhound (B+)
Slot 2: None
Slot 3: None
An ability that manifests only at Vikir's will.
Those pierced by this proboscis will fully experience the mortal power of the hellhound's fangs.
Normally, even shallow and minor wounds that don't draw blood initially will eventually start bleeding and continue bleeding for much longer than ordinary wounds.
Meanwhile,
Suck, suck, suck, suck, suck.
Ba'alzebub sucked on the hellhound's corpse until it was almost reduced to a skeleton.
He had quickly stolen the skill, but it seemed he was simply hungry.
Vikir also felt his hunger somewhat alleviated.
...Grrrr!
However, he was still hungry.
The delicious scent brushed against his nose, still wafting from afar.
Vikir quickly retreated from the disaster area.
Finally, a familiar boundary came into view.
The Cradle.
He saw the space where Baskerville's children were undergoing their tests.
Quietly crossing the boundary, he spotted the pit he had dug beneath the rocks in the distance.
Fortunately, it seemed that the working dogs hadn't noticed his presence yet.
Well, even though it's called the "Cradle," it's quite a large area. The surveillance of the working dogs wouldn't have reached every corner of the testing grounds.
Moreover, he had spent a considerable amount of time sitting idly in the pit, so Vikir was undoubtedly classified as a safe target for monitoring, and they were likely less vigilant.
Vikir crossed the boundary and descended to his hideout, removing all the dirt and fallen leaves he had used to cover it.
Finally, a tantalizing lump of meat revealed itself.
Cerberus. It lay sprawled there, exactly as it had been when it died.
Whine, whine, whine, whine.
Ba'alzebub, intoxicated by the scent of greasy meat, was overjoyed.
The buzzing sound of flies grew louder.
Soon, Ba'alzebub began piercing its proboscis into Cerberus' corpse, eagerly indulging in the flesh and organs.
However, Vikir scolded Ba'alzebub.
"Hey, hey, this is evidence for the practical evaluation. If you damage it too much, it'll be difficult to explain during the autopsy."
Nevertheless, Ba'alzebub continued undeterred, starting with its snout.
Vikir's expression turned fierce.
"No way!"
Smack!
Vikir fiercely struck the back of his own hand.
Naturally, it hurt since he had struck his own hand.
And if Vikir was in pain, Ba'alzebub would also be in pain.
Kiiing...
Ba'alzebub finally realized and cautiously withdrew its fangs from Cerberus' corpse.
Vikir confirmed the new blood and abilities flowing through the veins of his hand.
<Fly Feasting 'Ba'alzebub'> / Fangs
Slot 1: Burns - Cerberus (A+)
Slot 2: Bleeding - Hellhound (B+)
Slot 3: Rapid Regeneration - Norwegian Rat (F)
Was Cerberus an even more formidable demon?
Slot 1 was occupied by Cerberus' blood.
The Hellhound fell behind in Slot 2.
And unbelievably, Slot 3 was filled with the blood of a rat.
Perhaps there were bone fragments and pieces of rat skin that had been devoured beneath Cerberus' corpse.
"It seems that capturing a stronger demon allows for the deletion of previous skills."
Vikir chuckled as he noticed that among the three veins pulsating in his wrist, the one carrying the blood of the rat seemed unusually weakened and shriveled.
For now, he thought it would be better to leave an empty slot than to put just anything there, so Vikir decided to leave it as it was.
Above all, obtaining the skill "Burns" from the hellhound Cerberus was a significant harvest.
Now, anyone who is stabbed by this common fang will suffer from burns that will never naturally heal due to the infernal fire of Cerberus' oil world.
Once you're stabbed, you have to endure the burning pain until you die.
Considering that one of the worst pains a human can feel is a scorching ache, it was undoubtedly much more severe than the bleeding skill possessed by the Hellhound.
"Now. I've obtained everything that can be obtained from this mountain."
There's really not much else to do now.
Just relax until the practical evaluation ends, then submit Cerberus' corpse to the Working Dogs and receive a first-place evaluation. That's it.
And perhaps Vikir will be rewarded for this.
"...."
Vikir closed his eyes and checked his physical condition.
In terms of a mage, he had already accumulated about four circles' worth of mana.
The number of Baskerville-style teeth he could draw with a sword was three. No, now maybe four.
This was the stage of Sword Expert looking at Sword Graduate from above.
"If I judge harshly, it's Sword Expert top-level. If I judge leniently, it's Sword Graduate entry-level."
In practical combat, it's best to consider myself an expert since only about half of my true abilities are displayed.
In the previous life, no matter how much mana I accumulated and how experienced I became in actual combat, I couldn't draw more than four teeth due to the limits of the swordsmanship I learned.
By the way, the current Hugo knows a sword technique that can draw seven teeth, and the Hugo before regression knew a sword technique that could draw nine teeth.
Baskerville's Nine Styles.
This is a swordsmanship that only extends to the Family Boss and his direct successor, the Subcónsul, within the family.
The swordsmanship Vikir had learned was vastly stronger and more sophisticated than the Four Styles.
But now, it's different.
".... Ten Styles."
Baskerville's Ten Styles. Ten teeth.
The ultimate realm that no Baskerville in the current era can reach.
It is a legendary swordsmanship manual that incorporates the teachings of the first Family Boss, who subdued the demon seat of the Seven Calamities in the distant past.
Vikir knew the location of that treasure.
"There's nowhere far to go."
Surprisingly, it is very close, decaying within the crevices of common and easily readable miscellaneous books.
Who will give it?
Hugo Le Baskerville, the Family Boss of the Baskerville family.
He will personally hand it over to Vikir.
Without even imagining the value of the miscellaneous book handed over by the owner himself.
