Antagonist Protection Service

"Ngh-?!"

Thud-!

Falling forwards off my chair and to one knee on the ground, my hands instinctively shot out to support me, one pressing against the floor while the other grabbed my throbbing head.

At the same time, my heart palpitated wildly, sending pain that surged throughout my entire body like I had never experienced.

"En-Enki...!"

Barely hearing the Librarian urgently cry out, her small steps pattered against the floor as she rushed over.

"Li-- Hk-?!"

"O-oh, goodness...! Enki... Ahh..."

Attempting to call her, my lungs suddenly seized up, causing me to sharply inhale and freeze, my eyes naturally widening while my whole body felt like it was on fire.

As if the blood coursing through me had been replaced with flowing lava, the internal agony was such that I couldn't even think to muster my divine energy to try and reduce the heat.

Falling from one knee to let my whole self lie on the floor, I clutched at my head and chest, already numb from whatever had caused the abrupt torment to begin with.

Nevertheless, gritting my teeth, I beared with it.

And, at some point, the searing blood eventually began to fade... Or not.

It simply became slightly more endurable, just enough to the extent that I was able to empower myself with divine energy and effectively cool down.

Thereupon, my whole body was effectively 'refrigerated' by the wintry energy, as well as significantly strengthened in order to better endure the pain, and the issue was more or less dealt with, even if only temporarily.

"Agh... Goddamn..."

Taking some time to gather my breath, which remained a little rough, I rubbed the back of my neck and heaved a sigh.

"E-Enki, are you alright...?"

Turning to look up at the Librarian, evidently concerned, I faintly moved my head in an odd way that wasn't quite a nod or a shake.

"I think it's okay... Hah, fret not, right?"

Saying that with a smile, I pushed myself up to my feet and massaged my temples for a second, briefly patting the Librarian's head to let her know everything was fine.

Even though I couldn't see her eyes, I was sure that helped her calm down a bit.

My divine energy was constantly depleting while I empowered myself like this, so I would need to take temporary breaks to recover it every now and then, but so long as I plan for that carefully and make sure not to overuse it when I don't need to, I should be more or less okay.

'Jeez... That was unexpected. What the hell was that even about? Upgrade a skill and I suddenly feel like I'm dying?'

Sighing again as I felt my face naturally contort into a frown, I opened the Skill's description that caused all of this.

Skill - [Mana Corruption] (Passive)

The Demon King, cursed by the heavens with an inability to interact with mana, developed this Skill with his own two hands in the midst of famine and war.

Using this perversion of what was once a pure, natural force, he ruled.

From that point on, he was an enemy of the world.

(Mana you interact with becomes corrupted)

Level 1 - Some of the mana you interact with becomes corrupted

Level 2 - You corrupt more mana and it becomes demonic

Level Up Cost : 1,000

"Ey, what...?"

'"Becomes demonic", the hell...'

Well now it made more sense.

Whenever I breathe, I 'interact' with the natural mana in the air as it enters my lungs. This Skill corrupts that mana, allowing me to absorb it into my bloodstream as magic energy.

Although it isn't exactly the same magic energy everybody else possesses due to the fact that it's corrupted, that doesn't change that it can be used in the same ways.

However, now, it seems like I don't just corrupt mana upon interacting with it in that process, but I even make it 'demonic', too.

It wasn't entirely clear whether or not that meant my magic energy now had the very same Demon property that the Holy Sword existed to counter, or if it being 'demonic' was something slightly different, but it didn't give me a very good feeling either way.

"So now I've got demonic magic energy flowing in my blood... Huh..."

For a third time, I heaved a rather deep sigh.

It really was a good thing I had this divine energy. I wasn't sure how I would've been able to handle the sheer agony from before if it was permanent.

'I guess the fact that it was that damn painful is also a pretty decent indicator of whether it's a good thing or not, eh...'

Of course, I could be wrong, but that's how it seemed to me.

"So what, does that mean any magic I use from now on is gonna be demonic? I guess so, right?"

Again, whether or not that was a positive development was highly debatable.

In the end, we'd only be able to see as things go.

"Tsk, anyway... I guess it's probably not the best idea to level it up again right away either."

I had plenty of World Stability available, and I certainly planned on using it all to max out Mana Corruption in the beginning, but now I wasn't so sure if that was a smart idea.

'Probably not...'

It was a shame, because even if there was this unexpected downside, I could also clearly tell that my strength had increased by a not-insignificant amount upon levelling up the Skill, likely because I was corrupting a larger portion of the mana that I breathed in.

But then, if I couldn't upgrade Mana Corruption, then what?

'Let's see everything I've got first.'

Thinking that, I opened my Status for the first time in a while.

Enki Valentine | Operations Manager

General Physical Ability - Mediocre

General Magical Ability - Superior

Spiritual Synergism - Mediocre

Protagonists Dispatched : 9

Skills : [Sneak (Level 2)], [Lockpicking (Level 1)], [Mana Corruption (Level 2)]

Traits : [Professionalism], [Charismatic], [Heightened Senses]

Blessings : [Authority of the Library of Illusory Worlds (Tier Three)], [Grace of the Mother of the Winter Moon]

For a moment, I paused upon seeing it.

"...Wait..."

And then, I realised something.

"Aren't I, like... kinda crazy strong right now...?"

My General Physical Ability hadn't increased in a long time, and my Spiritual Synergism is the same as it was when Aradine gave me that elixir, but my General Magical Ability on the other hand...

'From Nonexistent to Superior...'

It had only been a couple of months since I purchased Mana Corruption, and by itself, it had accomplished all of this.

"God bless the Demon King."

It was weird to say, but I really wouldn't have been able to get here without him. I never met the guy, but he truly was my biggest helper.

'Sorry, Lucretia. I think I owe that Antagonist more than you.'

Of course, there was no way the Level 1 Mana Corruption would have brought my magical ability from zero to hero just like that, but it probably shot it up to Mediocre, and then levelling it up just now raised it further to Superior.

Although my base physical ability was the same, considering that any increase in my magic energy―be it strength, amount, or efficiency―could be used to enhance my body, I didn't think it was a huge deal.

"Anyway, I'm getting off track. What do I need..."

For a while, I scrolled through the Traits and Skills sections of the Assistance Menu, comparing it to what I already had, but nothing jumped out at me as being that necessary.

"Hm. Maybe this...?"

Ultimately pausing my hand over a certain Skill, I pursed my lips.