The Nameless Extra: I Proofread This World

[Mamveth’s POV]

Vexed, Mamveth narrowed his eyes and regarded the Chancellor with mounting suspicion, scrutinizing every spell Ophelia had hurled against him.

None of the attacks she unleashed carried any real weight, nor did they have enough killing power to genuinely threaten him. Which was rather ironic for someone of her caliber — an Archmage who should have been more than capable of reducing him to ruin.

’What the hell is she doing?’

That was Mamveth’s first thought as another spell crashed against him, only to be devoured by the curse shrouding his body.

Then, another possibility occurred to him.

’Perhaps... is she restraining herself because she is searching for a way to save this scholar?’

At that thought, Mamveth nearly laughed. It was certainly a plausible conjecture, and not one he could simply cast aside.

After all, there was still one crucial detail that continued to gnaw at him. The necklace that should have imprisoned Julian’s soul had been nowhere to be found when Mamveth seized control of this body, which meant the brat’s soul was most likely still lingering somewhere within the vessel.

If that was truly the case, then there remained a chance, however meager, for Julian to wrest control of his own body back from him. Even so, Mamveth severely doubted that the brat still possessed enough strength to contend with him for it.

Another barrage of spells descended upon him from every direction, flooding the crimson sky with violent flashes of arcane light.

Mamveth did not even bother evading them, allowing the attacks to batter against his body. Since none of them posed any genuine threat, his attention gradually drifted elsewhere.

His eyes shifted away from Ophelia and slowly swept across the realm surrounding them.

The longer he observed, the further his eyes narrowed. Hairline fractures of instability were beginning to surface throughout the domain.

’She is nearing her limit.’

Mamveth’s lips curled faintly as he watched another distant section of the realm flicker for barely a second.

To be fair, what the Chancellor had sustained thus far was already impressive, considering more than eight minutes had passed since she first invoked [Domain Creation].

There were exceedingly few magus capable of maintaining such a taxing spell for anywhere near that duration.

And yet, the domain still had not collapsed. The flow of mana around Ophelia remained remarkably stable, and even those faint signs of instability were spreading far more sluggishly than Mamveth had anticipated.

Judging from that alone, she could likely endure for several more minutes.

As Mamveth twisted aside from another incoming spell, his clawed hand snapped forward and unleashed a surge of Dark Mana that crashed violently into one of Ophelia’s clones.

From the corner of his vision, however, he abruptly caught sight of Scholar Ruvian approaching another clone in the distance.

’Also, that scholar... I could not discern it at first, but after it revealed its true nature, there is undoubtedly a demon residing within his body.’

The signs were unmistakable now that he had witnessed its true form: the Dark Mana seeping from the scholar, the black horns protruding from his head, and even the corruption spreading across his face.

Those were all obvious signs of a demon seizing complete control of a human vessel and drawing forth far more of its genuine strength.

At first, Mamveth had even mistaken the creature for an ally.

Perhaps another demon had secretly usurped control of the scholar long ago, only revealing itself now because Mamveth’s attack had nearly obliterated its vessel.

For a brief moment, he had even entertained the hope that this unexpected ally might help him kill Ophelia, something Mamveth had already deemed nearly impossible in his current state.

Yet that hope vanished almost immediately.

The moment the demon revealed itself, the first thing it directed toward Mamveth was unmistakable hostility.

Mamveth’s brow twitched at the recollection.

How could that fool fail to recognize what stood before it, when Mamveth was one of the Seven Primordial Supreme Demons, beings who stood directly beneath the Demon Lord and carried a fragment of his blood within their veins?

Among demonkind, there were scarcely any existences whose authority surpassed his own.

Something was undeniably amiss, yet Mamveth could not fathom what it was.

In the end, he could only surmise that the creature was some witless lesser demon harboring a grudge because Mamveth had nearly destroyed its vessel by accident.

Such idiocy was hardly uncommon among the inferior breeds.

But then there was the Chancellor.

Even after that demon had openly revealed its presence, Ophelia still continued protecting the scholar as though nothing had changed.

Mamveth’s expression darkened at the sight, especially when he had already resolved to tear that insolent demon apart for daring to bare its fangs at him.

Yet one question continued to gnaw at his mind.

Why?

Why would an Archmage protect a human who was so clearly harboring a demon within his body? Could there truly be demons who had forsaken their own kind and chosen to stand alongside humanity instead?

Mamveth almost scoffed at the very thought.

That possibility sounded even more ludicrous than everything else he had considered, because willingly debasing oneself to serve humans was beneath any demon possessing even the faintest shred of pride.

Still, after what he had just witnessed, he could no longer dismiss the possibility outright.

’Ha... even if there are blood-traitors among us, it hardly changes anything.’

Mamveth’s chin rose slightly as a haughty smile spread across Julian’s face.

However, the haughty smile on his face abruptly faded, and Mamveth’s brows slowly drew together as his expression turned curious. Something had changed around the Chancellor; the flow of mana emanating from Ophelia had become distinctly different.

His eyes narrowed as he scrutinized her, but before he could decipher what she was doing, the hundreds of Ophelias surrounding him suddenly began to move.

One after another, the clones surged toward each other and fused together, their numbers rapidly dwindling until only ten Ophelias remained.

The ten figures immediately scattered apart, taking separate positions around Mamveth until they had completely encircled him from every direction.

Mamveth’s gaze slowly swept across each of them. For some inexplicable reason, a deeply ominous feeling suddenly crawled beneath his skin.

*****

Ruvian stared from a distance as Ophelia reduced her clones to a mere handful. Yet the mana bleeding from each of those figures had become far denser, heavier, and infinitely more oppressive than before.

The sheer amount of mana she was pouring into her next spell was utterly monstrous, so immense that the entire realm had begun to shudder beneath its pressure.

Gulping, Ruvian readied himself. He drew in a slow breath and steadied his focus, because he also had a role to play the moment she cast that spell.

After all...

’Apart from mana control, what comes next will be a battle of mental strength...’ he thought calmly, his eyes remaining fixed on Ophelia and Mamveth.

At that moment, Mamveth also unleashed the full strength of his curse, his Dark Mana erupting violently from his body.

With Ruvian’s newly heightened sense of smell, the putrid stench of corruption seemed to spread everywhere, thick enough to become almost suffocating.

At the same time, Ruvian felt a minuscule portion of both his Dark Mana and ordinary Mana being siphoned away. His eyes widened, but the strange draining sensation abruptly stopped almost as quickly as it had begun.

Suddenly, Morvayne’s worried voice echoed from deep within his soul.

[Careful. He has expanded the effective range of his curse and intensified its influence over the surrounding area. The closer you get to him, the more dangerous its effects will become.]

She paused for a moment.

[Still, since your next plan requires you to approach him directly, I have already cast a protective spell around you.]

With the situation already this grim, Ruvian simply acknowledged her warning with a silent nod.

’Thanks.’

Then, as Ruvian looked above at them, several parts of the sky surrounding Mamveth suddenly ruptured, violent cracks and rifts branching outward across the crimson realm.

A moment later, Ophelia’s deep and commanding voice thundered across the entire realm.

She invoked the name of the spell:

[Heavenly Chains of Judgment]

The instant the spell was invoked, enormous white crystalline chains forged entirely from Pure Mana erupted from every rift surrounding Mamveth. They tore through the crimson sky with brutal speed, each link gleaming with an almost blinding concentration of power.

The loud crash of chains echoed across the realm as they rushed toward Mamveth from every direction. He barely had time to react before one chain wrapped around his arm, followed by others around his body, legs, neck, and head.

Within seconds, dozens of colossal chains had completely bound his body. The crystalline links crossed over one another and violently tightened, crushing against him with enough force to make the space around his body tremble.

Mamveth immediately tried to wrench himself free. His muscles tensed beneath the bindings as Dark Mana surged violently around him, but the chains refused to loosen even slightly.

He couldn’t move.

That was the opening Ruvian had been waiting for.

’Morvayne, let’s go!’

Seizing the chance, Ruvian immediately surged forward through the air, rapidly closing the distance between himself and Mamveth.

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[Chapter 328: Heavenly Chains of Judgment]

Plot Points= 68,500 PP