The Wizard Has A Biochip

Chapter 48: Heitor vs Crystina

I watched that little skeleton lolita as she walked toward us as though we were simply meeting by chance after years apart.

But none of us were foolish enough to believe that façade.

Among Apprentice Acolytes, friendship was nothing more than a pretty word.

Love was an illusion.

Humanity... a weakness.

Those ideas were shattered long before anyone reached Level 2.

The naïve died young.

The survivors learned.

My eyes discreetly drifted toward the small milky crystal orb and the strange metal cage she was carrying.

As soon as she noticed our gaze, Crystina puffed out her cheeks like a child and quickly hid both behind her back.

— All of these belong to Crystina, she said, gently swaying from side to side.

— You’re not thinking about taking them from me... are you?

Beside me, Kalikol stepped a few centimeters forward without taking his eyes off the girl.

His voice came out low.

— I thought you said there were three Acolytes.

I frowned slightly.

— There were.

— Where are the other two?

Before I could answer, Crystina herself opened her mouth.

She raised a bony finger and pointed east.

— Jhon went that way...

— He’s big... strong... he really likes fighting...

— If he runs into one of you... I’m sure something exciting will happen...

Her finger slowly shifted direction.

Now it pointed west.

— Morty went that way...

She tilted her head.

— He wanted to look for some interesting materials...

If those two were truly wandering freely through this resource zone...

Then the situation was far worse than I had imagined.

I didn’t care about the dead demons.

Or the mercenaries.

But this entire garden belonged to the Tower.

It was private property.

If those invaders discovered hidden gardens of rare herbs or deposits of magical materials...

The Mages would certainly hold someone responsible.

And that someone would most likely be the Acolytes assigned to this region.

Before I could organize my thoughts, Rafa burst into action.

— I’ll go after that guy!

His Vital Energy erupted.

"BUZZZZZ~~"

A blue aura completely enveloped his body.

Without waiting for a response, he shot toward the east.

Each stride made the ground tremble.

The few Demon Babies foolish enough to block his path were either crushed beneath his feet or hurled aside.

The monsters shrieked furiously.

— Blood...

— Kill...

But none of them dared chase after him.

A moment later, it was Kalikol’s turn.

He calmly adjusted his hat.

He didn’t even look back.

— I’ll head this way.

His figure disappeared among the western trees only seconds later.

Silence fell.

Now...

Only three of us remained.

Me.

Heitor.

And Crystina.

The little girl slowly tilted her skull to one side.

The tiny flames inside her eyes seemed to study me.

Then they shifted toward Heitor.

— Are you going to fight me?

Heitor stepped forward.

His face remained completely cold.

Crystina smiled.

— Before we fight... aren’t you curious why we’re here?

Heitor kept walking.

— There’s no reason to talk to you.

He stopped several meters ahead.

His Spiritual Energy began to rise.

— You brought chaos to this forest.

— You’ll be punished for it.

— And if I lose...

He took a deep breath.

— I’ll accept full responsibility for whatever happens here.

Then he spread his fingers.

— Now...

Radiant energy began swirling around his arm.

The air grew hot.

Golden runes appeared before him.

Their light illuminated the entire clearing.

— Brilliant Fire...

The luminous particles began converging.

— Come...

A golden sphere slowly condensed.

— ...and burn away the darkness.

I watched closely.

Before coming here, I had described that girl’s bizarre abilities in great detail.

That was why Heitor hadn’t tried to test her strength.

His plan was simple.

Destroy her body before she had the chance to use any of those strange techniques.

An effective strategy.

If she really were nothing more than a fragile little skeleton.

But...

The girl merely smiled.

Without showing the slightest hint of fear.

She raised her tiny wand.

Her childish voice echoed calmly.

— Dark Energy...

Black smoke began rising from the tip of her wand.

The forest’s shadows seemed to answer her call.

— Form a ray of destruction...

The two spells grew at almost exactly the same pace.

It took roughly ten seconds for both to reach their completed forms.

In Heitor’s hand shone a tiny golden sun.

At the tip of Crystina’s wand crackled a black bolt wrapped in dark energy.

Then...

Both attacks were unleashed.

"ZOOOOOOSH~~"

The golden sphere sliced through the air.

"ZZZZZZZZT~~"

The black lightning surged in the opposite direction.

They collided at the exact center of the clearing.

"BOOOOOOOM!!"

A deafening explosion shook the ground.

The shockwave ripped leaves from the trees.

Stones were hurled into the air.

Branches snapped.

The golden light struggled to push forward.

But Crystina gripped her tiny wand with both hands.

The dark energy surged dramatically.

"ZZZZZZZZZZT——"

The bolt pierced straight through the sphere of light.

Heitor’s spell collapsed.

It exploded in midair into thousands of golden particles.

The entire forest was illuminated for an instant.

"..."

My eyes widened behind my visor.

Damn...

That was epic.

Without wasting any time, I took a few steps backward.

Then a few more.

I kept retreating silently until I found a thick tree that could serve as cover.

There was no reason for me to join that fight.

My mission had never been to defend this place.

I was only there to investigate the disappearance of an Acolyte.

If Heitor died...

Maybe I’d intervene.

If Crystina were defeated...

Maybe I’d seize the opportunity.

Until then...

The smartest decision was to keep watching.

Golden sparks and black particles continued drifting slowly between the trees as the residual energy from the collision of the two spells gradually faded away.

Hidden behind the thick trunk of a tree, I remained motionless, observing.

She was still standing.

Completely unharmed.

Heitor, on the other hand, was breathing heavily.

His chest rose and fell violently, and even from a distance I could sense the instability of his magical power.

He had consumed too much mana.

Crystina took a few slow steps toward him.

The tiny skull on her face wore that same sweet smile.

But now it looked even more unsettling.

— I don’t think your engineer friend will be able to help you... once I destroy him while he’s still alive.

Heitor swallowed hard.

I saw his fingers tremble ever so slightly.

Even though he tried to maintain a cold expression, he knew.

The advantage in this battle no longer belonged to him.

After taking a deep breath, he closed his eyes for a brief moment.

His hand reached into the pouch fastened at his waist.

When it emerged...

He was holding a small glass vial filled with an intense crimson liquid.

A smile appeared on his lips.

— He’s not my friend.

Crystina kept staring at the vial.

The blue flames inside her eye sockets flickered.

— Do you think you can kill me with that?

She twirled her tiny wand between her fingers.

— Do you realize that before that vial even reaches me...

She tilted her head.

— ...I’ll blow it apart in midair?

Heitor remained still for a second.

Then...

He smiled faintly.

— Maybe.

In an unexpected move, he put the vial away.

Immediately afterward, he pulled out another object.

A small wooden totem covered in ancient inscriptions.

Without hesitating...

He threw it.

"SHOOOOOZ~~"

The artifact spun rapidly through the air.

Crystina reacted instantly.

Her wand moved almost too fast for my eyes to follow.

— Dark Energy.

A thin black blade sliced through the air.

"ZOSHHH——"

The totem was struck.

"BOOOOM!"

It exploded before it could even reach her.

Fragments of wood flew in every direction.

I thought that was the end of it.

Then...

From within the explosion emerged a deformed spiritual creature.

Its body seemed to be made of gray smoke and countless human faces fused together.

It opened an enormous mouth.

— HAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!

Crystina took half a step back.

For the first time...

She looked surprised.

Her hand immediately slipped into her small pouch.

She pulled out a handful of shimmering white powder.

Without a second thought...

She threw it at the spirit.

"FSSSHHHHH——"

The powder burst into thousands of glowing particles.

The entity let out an agonized scream.

Its body began rapidly falling apart.

Within seconds...

Nothing remained.

Crystina clenched her fists.

— You bastard!

— That powder cost seventy Magic Crystals!

I looked at Heitor.

He smiled.

But his shoulders were tense.

His plan had clearly failed to produce the result he had expected.

Now he understood.

Fighting users of Dark Magic was far more complicated than he had imagined.

Then...

"BOOOOOOM!!"

A tremor rippled through the entire forest.

Leaves fell.

Birds took flight.

Both Heitor and Crystina immediately turned toward the direction of the explosion.

Crystina smiled.

— It looks like my friends found those pathetic Level 3 Acolytes who came with you.

She took a slow breath.

— It’s time to stop playing.

Her tiny wand rose once more.

Black runes began appearing around it.

— Dark Energy...

— Annihilate my enemy...

— ...and destroy him as darkness does.

Heitor’s eyes widened.

I immediately understood his line of thinking.

He wanted to raise a barrier.

But he gave up.

He still hadn’t mastered any defensive magic.

His only option...

Was to run.

He spun on his heels.

And started running.

That was the exact moment...

I smiled behind the tree.

It was the perfect opportunity.

Both of them had completely forgotten about my existence.

Mentally, I issued a command.

— Biochip.

["Beep."]

— Lock onto Heitor’s back.

["Target acquired."]

— Lock onto the hand holding Crystina’s wand as well.

["Second target acquired."]

The luminous targeting markers instantly appeared across my vision.

I slowly raised my right arm.

The ballistic launcher mounted on my armor emitted a low hum.

"Vrrrrrr..."

I took a deep breath.

And pulled the trigger.

— Die... you worm.

"BANG!!"

The first explosive crystal was launched.

At the very same instant...

"BANG!!"

I fired the second.

The projectiles tore through the air at incredible speed.

Heitor didn’t even have time to notice.

"BOOOOOOM!!"

The explosion struck him squarely in the back.

His leather armor, flesh, and bones simply vanished beneath the impact.

His torso was completely obliterated.

Blood-soaked fragments scattered across the vegetation.

He still took two more steps out of pure reflex.

Then he collapsed heavily.

Lifeless.

At the same time...

Crystina turned her head in alarm.

But it was too late.

Her spell had already reached its critical point.

Canceling it now would mean suffering the backlash of her own magic.

Even so...

My second shot arrived first.

"BOOOOOOM!!"

The crystal struck her tiny wand directly.

The enchanted wood split cleanly in half.

At that same instant...

All the accumulated energy spun out of control.

"BOOOOOOOOOOOM!!"

The magical explosion hurled Crystina violently into a massive tree.

The trunk cracked.

Then another.

She smashed through both before crashing heavily onto the ground.

Her tiny frame lay motionless.

One of her forearms had been completely shattered.

The dark energy surrounding her vibrated chaotically.

I kept the launcher aimed at her.

I approached slowly.

Stopping several meters away.

The next crystal was already chambered.

— Don’t you dare make a move.

— Do you hear me?

Then...

Something completely unexpected happened.

The blue flames inside her empty eye sockets began to weaken.

They flickered.

Blinking on and off.

Until they vanished entirely.

Her tiny skeletal body began to tremble.

Cracking sounds echoed.

The white bones were slowly covered by muscle.

Then skin.

Long white hair appeared like strands of silk.

Her face took on delicate features.

Within seconds...

The monstrous creature I had been fighting was gone.

In her place stood a young woman of short stature, with skin as dark as ebony, hair as white as snow, and strikingly vivid blue eyes.

Her arm was still severely injured.

Blood continued to flow from the wound.

She was breathing with difficulty.

Realizing that I had defeated a beautiful black Lolita, I felt my depraved desires arise.

After all, I hadn’t tasted chocolate-colored meat in this world before.

Should I rape her?

...

2002 Words