NOVEL NEXT Volume 10 8
I used the [Despair] medal, my [Creation] medal, and an imitation medal of [Planet] to make a new monster.
I aimed for it to be a fallen angel.
Fallen angels were extremely rare monsters. Their stats as well as their skills were excellent and had great practical use.
Thankfully, those were true for Fallen Angel Raffaello, the new monster I just made. There was just one problem with her though: she was a bit of a klutz... err, physically uncoordinated.
◇
We went to the [Crimson Cavern] to raise her levels.
The hot magma everywhere illuminated the otherwise dark cave we travelled through.
Raising her levels was vital. She might be an S rank monster, but given that she was still at level 1, she wasn’t particularly strong.
"Don’t stray too far away from Kuina!"
"Understood, Master Kuina!"
Kuina was in the lead, and behind her were Raffaello and I. The one protecting our backs was Rorono.
Kuina was here to train Raffaello while also fulfilling her duty of guarding me. Meanwhile, Rorono came along to get an idea on what kind of weapon would suit Raffaello best.
I took this opportunity to once again look at Raffaello’s Status.
Race: Fallen Angel Raffaello
Name: Unnamed
Level: 1
Stats:
Skills:
Her stats were extreme, in more ways than one.
Stats that might be more important in close-range battles—Physical Strength, Endurance, and agility—were at D. In exchange for that though, the stats that could be considered important in magic battles—Magic and Special, as well as maybe Luck—were at least S+.
But more worthy of attention than her stats were her skills.
Given that Seraphim’s Halo was effective against monsters of the holy attribute as well as monsters of the darkness attribute, it was overwhelmingly advantageous. Seraphim was the highest rank in the hierarchy of angels, so there should be only a few monsters of the holy attribute that wouldn’t be subjected to Seraphim’s Halo.
Dark Light Magic was powerful as well.
There were very few monsters who had resistance to both Light and Dark. It was almost always the case that if a monster had resistance to one, they would be weak to the other.
Black-winged Angel raised her stats and only required easily-fulfillable conditions. As great as increasing some of her stats by a rank might sound though, in reality, it only raised those stats to C. Still, that might be more than enough.
All her skills so far could be praised for certain, but the remaining two were rather hard to use.
I had no idea on how her Dark Light Sanctuary would affect those caught within it.
In the first place, why would she—whose stats for close-range were quite low—put herself in such a disadvantageous position where she was not only near her enemies but also confined with them? Even if the sanctuary could be made to have a radius of up to 200 meters, the question still stands.
And then, there was her most problematic skill of all: Fall from Heaven.
"Raffaello, listen, absolutely do not use Fall from Heaven, alright?"
"Understood! I won’t use it"
If I didn’t tell her that, such a scenario was more than possible:
"Raffaello, use Fall from Heaven!"
"Yes, right away! [Fall from Heaven]!"
Yes, a scenario where she would joyfully use it.
Fall from Heaven, at first glance at least, seemed to be a very powerful skill. Its effect of increasing all of her stats by 2 ranks was more than what [Berserk] offered. However, skills which required angel-related attributes such as holy would become unusable. In Raffaello’s case, she would lose access to Seraphim’s Halo, Dark Light Magic, and Black-winged Angel. Dark Light Sanctuary might become inaccessible as well.
To be frank, I thought it wasn’t worth it. My intuition was telling me that its true value would show itself after the third use, but obviously, I had no intention of taking such a gamble.
"Master Kuina, this’ll be my very first hunt and to be honest, I’m quite nervous"
"It’s natural feel like that on your first time! Just watch your Master and learn!"
"Yes, Master Kuina!"
Even though she looking around restlessly, Raffaello’s eyes were full of respect whenever she gazed on Kuina.
A short while after, Kuina’s ears pricked upward, the reaction she had when she has found an enemy.
"Raff-chan, look over there"
"S-so that’s my first foe?"
About a hundred meters away in the direction Kuina pointed to was a red lizard. To be more specific, it was a Salamandra, a D rank monster.
It didn’t take long before it noticed us as well and breathed out some flames as means to threaten us.
"For now, try firing your assault rifle, Raff-chan. From this distance, you should be able to defeat it one-sidedly."
"Here I go!"
Serving as her current weapon was the EDAR-04 Laevateinn.
Unlike Aura’s anti-materiel rifle which was useable by pretty much only her, Rorono designed and made this assault rifle so that anyone, with enough training, should be able to draw out its maximum potential. It was such an easy-to-use and high-performance weapon that it was the weapon of choice of a lot of my monsters, especially the intelligence corps.
In order to increase Raffaello’s hit rate, we taught her to fire in a burst of three shots.
Sadly, all of her shots missed.
Rorono was greatly perplexed by this.
No matter how much of an airhead Raffaello was, at this distance, she shouldn’t miss. To make matters worse, the Salamandra didn’t take any evasive maneuvers and was in fact charging straight ahead.
"Eeeehhhhhh? Why am I not hitting?"
And then, her magazine became empty of bullets.
She tried to retrieve another magazine from her bag and replace the empty one, but she instead dropped the bag.
"Raff-chan, no time to pick it up. Use your magic! Maybe you can make that hit something!"
"Y-yes, Master Kuina! [Dark Light Explosion]!"
She raised her hand up toward the Salamandra. I then felt overwhelming magic that was unbelievable for a level 1 monster.
In the following moment, dark light surged from her raised hand and eradicated anything the Salamandra had from the neck up.
Such speed and straight trajectory. So, this is Dark Light Magic, huh.
Much like the term dark light would suggest, the dark light she fired off traveled in a straight line and at the speed of light. That meant that as long as the target was within the line of fire, evasion was impossible.
Kuina and Rorono were quite surprised.
Originally, by which I mean without the use of guns, it was hard for a level 1 monster, even an S rank one, to deal a fatal blow to a proper D rank monster. And yet, Raffaello easily beheaded one. Truly, a Magic stat of S+ and stat ups from her various skills were nothing to joke about.
This then made me imagine of how powerful her Dark Light Magic could be once she has reached her maximum level. Such a thought made me shudder.
...I mean, an instant kill attack that can’t be avoided! Other than monsters like Aura who could attack from so far away or monsters like Kuina who was immune to magic, most monsters would die without a fight.
"Amazing! That surprised me, Raff-chan"
"...with that power, guns wouldn’t be necessary. What an absurd power"
"Yup, yup, exactly, Rorono-chan. Raff-chan, you know, Kuina was beginning to think you were a lost cause, but you’ve changed my mind!"
"Actually, Master Kuina..."
"What’s wrong?"
"That magic just now, it actually used up all my magic power. Can we rest a bit?"
"So, you’re a lost cause after all..."
Considering she exhausted herself in one attack, it seemed like her attack’s fuel efficiency wasn’t great, to say the least.
Well, once she gains some levels, her total magic power should increase as well. Moreover, she hopefully would have obtained a better mastery of things over time.
◇
After giving Raffaello a potion made from the golden apples to improve her magic power recovery rate and letting her rest for a bit, we continued our hunt.
In order to compensate somewhat for the weak point of Raffaello’s Dark Light magic, Kuina and Rorono tried to teach her more on how to use a gun.
Sadly, there wasn’t any improvements.
If one used a gun, they could still have firepower when they had exhausted their magic power reserves. Moreover, they would be able to fight even enemies that were resistant or immune to magic.
"Say, Rorono, can you make a gun that can be used by anyone and whose bullets will always hit the enemy?"
"I can’t. Even if I can, several features would have to be sacrificed to the point that the gun would be worthless in the end."
"Ohh. Too bad..."
"Master Kuina, Master Rorono, I am so terribly sorry!"
For a while now, Raffaello have been repeatedly apologizing and bowing her head. She was feeling sorry for not improving despite being taught patiently and kindly.
The two readily forgave her each time. She wasn’t a bad kid, just a clumsy one.
Oh, by the way, up until this moment, she had fallen down seven times. In two of those incidents, her underpants became exposed.
"Raff, you don’t have to apologize... I promise you, on my pride as the world’s best blacksmith, I will make a gun that even you can use."
Rorono was strangely fired up.
"Uhm, Master Kuina, Master Rorono, my level has increased and so has my total magic power. Because of that, I want to do something that’ll replenish my magic power reserves. Can we do that next?"
"You can do something like that!?"
"If I use my Dark Light Sanctuary, yes."
Ohh, her sanctuary has a power like that? How useful. Maybe that’s enough to compensate for the poor fuel efficiency of her Dark Light Magic...
"So, could you please distance yourselves from me when the next monster shows up? I want to avoid accidentally killing you."
"Kill me? That’s preposterous! Let’s see you try!"
It seemed like that suggestion wounded Kuina’s pride.
She was quite proud of her strength, so if a low-level monster says they might kill her accidentally, she couldn’t stay silent about that.
"B-but it’s really dangerous, you know."
"It’s fine! Kuina can defend herself!"
"Kuina, you know you shouldn’t do needlessly dangerous things"
"Geez, Oto-san, don’t you believe in Kuina?"
It seemed like her mind was made up and thus wouldn’t listen to warnings anymore.
What should I do though?
Kuina was indeed capable of withstanding most things.
Moreover, I was worried of leaving Raffaello inside her sanctuary with no one else but a hostile monster. On top of Raffaello’s defense being paper-thin, she was clumsy and had poor reflexes.
I could give Kuina a direct command to stay away and she would have no choice but to obey it, but perhaps entrusting things to her is the better choice.
"...Very well. Kuina, continue guarding Raffaello."
"Understood!"
◇
We were now in an area where magma was spouting out.
Within the pool of magma in the ground were snakes that had scales of lava. These monsters were aptly called Lava Snakes.
When Raffaello came close to the pool of magma, five of the C rank Lava Snakes approached her as well.
She then prepared to launch her sanctuary by making her magic power surge and forming an enormous magic array under feet.
...is it just me or is something strange with this scene?
Raffaello, for the short time that I had known her, was quite timid.
And yet, there was no trace of fear or worry now that she was facing several powerful C rank monsters. If anything, she was smiling faintly. She’s looking down on her enemies!
The air around her completely changed. That left me wondering if her Dark Light Sanctuary had any features that changed one’s personality.
At any rate, the Lava Snakes began to pounce at her.
In order to support Raffaello in an unobtrusive way, Kuina readied her shotgun with the mindset to only fire it when truly needed.
In the next moment though, dark light filled the surroundings and muted all sounds.
When I was no longer blinded by the light, I saw a dark half-sphere ahead of me. I couldn’t see at all what was happening inside of the dome though.
"This is her sanctuary? And is that what the description meant by everything around her would be enveloped?"
"What a sinister power. My instinct’s screaming danger. Just looking at it is enough to make me feel ill. I might even get killed if I try to go inside."
Rorono was trembling, which was something rare for her.
Just what’s going on inside?
Two minutes passed and the dome began to become undone.
The scene that unfolded before me surprised me.
It wasn’t that the five Lava Snakes were down on the ground—that much was expected—it was how they died that gave me a surprise. The light in their magnificent lava scales were now gone, making them look as though they were just covered in dirt. Their bodies were also all dried up, making them all skin and bones.
In less than a minute, they died one after the other and began turning into blue particles.
In the center of it all was Raffaello. She was floating in the sky, her wings spread as much as it could.
The expression on her face suggested that she was teeming with vitality and that she was perhaps even ecstatic.
"Ahh, that was sooo delicious"
Raffaello said so and then licked her lips. For some reason, that action of hers was utterly captivating.
But when I looked at beneath her, I was surprised more than before.
"Kuina!"
"O-Oto-san, I-I’m, al, right..."
Kuina had collapsed to the ground.
She had sweated a large amount; her breathing was ragged; and was too weak to do anything else.
"I told you it was dangerous, Master Kuina. My sanctuary will eat you up, whether you’re friend or foe. But your lifeforce sure was delicious... it’s so juicy, so sweet, and so soft, haaa, totally different from those small fries. Oh, how I want to taste it again."
Raffaello descended and whispered so to Kuina’s ear.
It seems like she’s still in her other personality, the one brought on by her skill. Regardless, from what I’ve seen so far, I think I have enough grasp of her Dark Light Sanctuary.
"That surprised Kuina. Your Dark Light Sanctuary sucked up the lifeforce and magic power of everyone inside and made it yours. We were growing weaker, but you were just growing stronger... it was almost like you’re invincible."
Hers was an ability that absorbed the enemies’ strength and turned it into her own nourishment. Even if the enemy had enough strength to break the sanctuary somehow, she could just snatch that strength away before any harm was done and use it instead to intensify her sanctuary further.
But perhaps most frightening of all about it was that it was able to leave even Kuina in a tattered state within just two minutes. Kuina was immune to magic, and yet this worked against her. In other words, resistances didn’t matter to this skill.
Without a doubt, it was a terrifying ability. As for how to combat it, it was either to stay out of range or to kill Raffaello as quickly as possible.
"I think I understand your ability now. ...still, refrain from using it when there are allies in the vicinity, alright?"
I wanted to scold her, but I knew it wasn’t her fault. Kuina insisted on testing it, and I allowed her. To blame Raffaello would be pathetic of me.
Cautioning her to not let such a thing happen again was just fine though.
"Understood! Also, I’ve fully recovered now, your majesty. Let’s go hunt for the next monster. Oh, but Master Kuina’s still tired, isn’t she?"
"Who, me? I’m fine. This is nothing."
Kuina could pretend as much as she wanted, but I could see that she was still in pain.
"Rorono, be the guard for a little while. Kuina, go drink some potions and rest. I’ll carry you in the meantime."
"Mhm, understood."
Kuina was about to protest, but when I carried her like a princess, she became silent. She stopped bluffing, held on to me, and entered a jolly mood.
I knew Kuina liked being carried like this, so I used it to trick her. Thankfully, it worked well enough.
"Then, I’ll be in your care, Master Rorono. ...you know"
"Mhm. I’ll be observing your battle style from nearby. If things get dicey, I’ll come in and help. Tell me when you want to use your Dark Light Sanctuary. Unlike Kuina, I’ll get out of range."
"Yes, Master Rorono!"
And so, Raffaello’s first hunt ended relatively peacefully.
For a first hunt, she leveled up quite a bit.
Moreover, I had gained better understanding of her abilities.
She owned a dangerous ability, but there was no question that it was powerful.
I should consult with Duke later on how best to deploy her. if we do this right, Avalon would gain yet another trump card.
TL notes: Lucifer and Raffaello’s Fall from Heaven share the same kanji, but Raffaello’s has a furigana saying "Falling down". I decided to just make it the same.