I Became a Raid Boss

“…?”

The girl opened her eyes.

…But what does it even mean to open one’s eyes?

Without even understanding the meaning of her actions, or even knowing what she had done, the girl sat up.

Shhhhhh—

At the same time, thick black mist began to spread from her body.

It was a force of corruption, much like the deadly aura of extreme poison to living beings.

Even the flowerbed where the girl stood couldn’t escape the mist.

In an instant, the flowers lost their vitality and wilted away.

As the girl looked around, her eyes caught the sight of a drooping flower.

“….”

Not a fan.

Instinctively feeling that way, the girl swung her arm.

Whoosh.

Her arm sliced through the mist.

The mist, momentarily parted by the trajectory of her swing, slowly started to cling back to her.

The girl managed to scatter the mist for a moment, but she couldn’t drive it away completely.

That was only to be expected.

Since it wasn’t real mist, and it originated from her own body, there was no way such a trivial gesture would resolve anything.

However, it was the same for the mist; it couldn’t influence her either.

The surrounding flowers, grass, trees, even little bugs…

The mist that stole the vitality of everything living couldn’t bare its fangs at its master, as the girl’s arms showed no difference before or after touching it.

Swish, swish.

The girl, dissatisfied with how things weren’t going her way, flailed her arms about.

Her movements looked innocent, like a child playing on the beach, but the repercussions of her actions were anything but light.

As the girl moved, stirring up the mist, it spread wider and began to devour the flowerbed.

At this point, the girl started to feel something strange and stopped her attempt to spread the mist.

Hmph—

Puffing out her cheeks, she glared at the mist.

Thud.

“!”

Unintentionally stepping forward, the girl watched in wide-eyed surprise as the mist moved along with her action.

Pitter patter—!

The girl hurriedly moved her short legs to escape the flowerbed.

As she did, the mist that had been writhing over the flowerbed hastily followed her into the open space.

While she did create new damage while leaving the flowerbed, thankfully, there were still more untouched spots than wilted ones.

While happily scanning the flowerbed, the girl’s gaze suddenly stopped as if she had caught sight of something.

Beyond the flowerbed, something long was stuck near the edge of a steep cliff.

Even from a considerable distance, she couldn’t take her eyes off the vivid red.

“….”

The girl felt frustrated.

Even as she instinctively clawed at her chest, the sense of frustration wouldn’t go away.

I want to go there.

I shouldn’t go there.

Two conflicting instincts fought fiercely within her.

In the end, ‘You shouldn’t go’ emerged victorious.

Hesitating.

The girl dutifully followed her instinct, though she couldn’t hide her sense of regret.

She passed by the blackened space and then a quaint little hut, gradually moving away from the flowerbed.

Thud!

“…?!”

The girl, driven solely by her instinct to get as far from the flowerbed as possible, bumped into something transparent.

With a light thump, she rubbed her slightly reddened forehead.

Pure curiosity blossomed in her eyes.

What was it that blocked her?

As she tilted her head, she finally spotted the opaque wall blocking her way.

“….”

Not satisfying.

It wasn’t just because it was blocking her.

It whispered to her instinct just like when she stepped out of the flowerbed.

But there was something clearly different from before.

Where the instinct had whispered not to break things, this time it urged her to eliminate it right away.

This doesn’t sit right with me.

The girl followed her instinct once more.

Whooooom—

Her hand reached out to grasp at the void.

Clearly, there was nothing there, but soon her fingers grasped a sword.

Surrounded by an ominous black mist that wouldn’t let even a speck of light through, the sword flickered dangerously.

Even if the sword in the girl’s hand was a rare master sword, and even if it was a good sword, she wouldn’t be able to easily grip it.

The ominous energy swirling around the pitch-black sword brushed aside reason and provoked instinct.

And should she succeed in overcoming her instincts and grabbing the sword, she wouldn’t be left unscathed.

The sword the girl held was shaped from the black mist surrounding her; anyone who touched it would be devoured by the mist and drained of all vitality.

Such a sinister object, yet the girl felt nothing amiss.

Clutching the pitch-black sword, she took her stance.

A diagonal slash from the lower left to the upper right.

The black snake lunged toward the wall that blocked her, revealing its fangs.

Smash!!

The gleaming fangs plunged deep into the wall.

But the black snake was unsatisfied; twisting its body, it continued to gnash and tear at the wall.

However, shortly after…

Although it poured all its strength into it, the black snake ultimately failed to rend the wall and began to dissipate.

What remained was the unbelievable massive scar left behind by the sword.

“….”

Discontent filled the girl’s eyes.

No one was there to stop her, but even if there had been, the girl charged forward without a moment’s hesitation.

The point of the sword drove into the barrier.

Crackle!

The barrier flickered violently.

But that was just for a moment; as the black energy flowed out from where the sword was lodged, the barrier’s flickering light rapidly faded.

Finally, when the barrier lost all its light, what stood in its place was no longer an opaque wall, but a massive wall stained black.

Expressionless, yet somehow satisfied, the girl looked up at it and took another step forward.

On sight alone, the black wall seemed likely to block her even more forcefully.

Yet just as her foot was about to touch it, the wall smoothly opened.

Slipping through an opening wide enough for two or three people to pass, the girl emerged into a dense thicket.

With branches stretching as if to cover the sky, the vibrant trees curled down as the black mist touched them.

However, that was outside the girl’s concern.

Simply by passing through, she drained vitality from her surroundings as she walked.

Without knowing where she wished to go or must go, she merely headed towards the mountain as if compelled.

Far to the east.

Unbeknownst to her, someone who had been the original owner of the barrier was now in despair, tearing their hair out.

*

“…You’re saying she vanished the moment the ascension ritual finished?”

“Indeed. This is the third time it has happened, so isn’t it time to stop asking?”

“I just can’t believe it.”

Da-eun sighed heavily.

Justina, overseeing the ascension ritual, had witnessed everything clearly.

Not just the mages gathered here, but all the mana in Raxia had been drawn into Kana.

Naturally, that was not the situation Justina had anticipated; she felt something was off, but the situation had already slipped from her grasp.

All that Justina could do was ensure the mana didn’t escape elsewhere.

After a few minutes that felt like a thousand years, and after what seemed like an eternity, the flow of mana surrounding Kana visibly weakened.

Justina couldn’t hide her astonishment upon seeing Kana absorb every last drop of mana.

No matter how high one’s cultivation, a small girl who wasn’t a demon race should not have been able to handle so much mana.

No, even if she were a demon, her body would have burst if she tried to contain that much mana.

Even for Justina, who had undergone a major growth spur, she wouldn’t have been able to accept even a fraction of what Kana had taken in.

That’s why it was a feat beyond mere words.

Justina, suppressing her astonishment with the chains of responsibility, was about to approach the collapsed Kana when a light surge appeared from somewhere, wrapping around Kana’s body and shining brightly.

Justina reflexively squeezed shut her eyes against the blinding light, and when she opened them again, Kana was nowhere to be found.

“Looking back now, it seems it was magic.”

“Magic…?”

Who on earth, where, and for what reason?

While she was relieved that Kana was alive, a new worry emerged.

“What if it was someone with a grudge against Kana who kidnapped her…?”

Or what if it was the work of some pervert trying to do something unspeakable to her…?

Da-eun unwittingly bit her lip.

Having lost so much blood, her condition must be terrible.

“Let me say this so there’s no misunderstanding. We are not responsible for her kidnapping.”

“Not that I doubted you.”

To be precise, she didn’t even have the luxury of doubt.

Da-eun’s mind was filled with concern and worry, leaving no room for other thoughts.

“I don’t know much about magic but—”

A soft voice pulled Da-eun from her thoughts.

“The culprit must surely be a very skilled magician.”

“Why?”

“Teleportation magic is not easily performed. Plus, targeting only Kana from all these people would be even more challenging.”

“Aah….”

Hearing this now felt painfully obvious.

“A skilled magician, huh….”

“Likely one of the best in the Ardina Continent, I would say….”

“Why would such a person kidnap Kana?”

The timing was also uncanny.

It was as if the plan had been perfectly executed.

As questions piled on, Da-eun sighed.

“I just hope nothing bad happens….”

With the fact that it was almost certain she had been kidnapped by someone’s hand, Da-eun’s hope felt exceedingly slim, yet she clung to it nonetheless.

“I will search for the child myself.”

“You’re going to help?”

“…Do you see me as an ungrateful scoundrel?”

“Ah… that’s not what I meant. …Thank you for helping.”

“I’m not doing it to help. It is what I ought to do.”

Justina scoffed lightly and gestured with her hand.

Following her gesture, the demon race spread out uniformly in all directions.

Watching this unfold, Justina turned to Da-eun and Selin.

“What will you two do?”

Their answers were already set.

“We’ll search too.”

“Yes. We can’t go back without Kana.”

“In that case, I’ll send some people along. The mana may have disappeared, but the monsters still linger.”

Justina nodded as though she had already expected their answers.

Thus, dozens of search teams began to scour Raxia, and Da-eun thought it was just a matter of time before they found Kana.

However—

“…What?!”

Contrary to Da-eun’s thoughts.

The news she sought so desperately about Kana came from a completely unexpected place.

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